Eastern Sierra News
Written by Tom Woods Monday, 04 May 2009 08:23
After a week of pouring over the mountainous terrain in the Mammoth area, searchers have located the remains of a motorized glider that had been reported missing April 24th. The pilot and passenger, a couple out of Colorado, did not survive.
According to Shannon Kendall with the Mono Sheriff’s Department, Friday afternoon at about 2:20, the crew of an Air Force Pavehawk helicopter spotted an aircraft debris field about 10-12 miles northeast of the Town of Mammoth, east of the Crestview Maintenance Station near Deadman Summit.
The plane, a motorized glider, was scheduled to arrive in Modesto Friday evening after leaving Tonopah NV. The pilot had filed a flight plan and was last picked up on RADAR east of Mammoth. On board were 67 year old Allan Raymond Melendy and 63 year old Mary Elizabeth Hayden. Both were residents of Canon City, Colorado.
Over the course of the previous week, Lt. Matthew Scerhzi of the Civil Air Patrol reported that roughly 200 Civil Air Patrol members from all parts of California and Nevada flew over 150 search missions. Helicopters from the California National Guard at Moffett Federal Airfield and personnel and aircraft from the 58th and 66th Rescue Squadrons at Nellis AFB flew missions as well. Local Search and Rescue team members with Inyo and Mono County also helped with the search effort
The two people have been removed from the wreckage and their next of kin have been notified, Kendall reports. National Transportation Safety Board investigators are set to look into the cause of the fatal crash. The Federal Aviation Administration is set to work with Mono County to remove the wreckage of the plane.
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