WSDOT calls off search for missing Tacoma pilot. Here’s what we know
The search for a Tacoma pilot missing for two weeks has been suspended, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.
Rodney Collen took off in his 2006 Cessna T182 Turbo Skylane on March 6 from the Tacoma Narrows Airport in Gig Harbor. His wife reported him missing the same day.
Search efforts began that night.
WSDOT and partners found no trace of the pilot or his aircraft, WSDOT announced Monday.
“This is not the outcome searchers and the many partners had hoped for and our thoughts are with both the family and everyone who worked to try and locate the aircraft,” WSDOT officials said.
Collen’s family was updated regularly of search activities and Monday’s decision to call off the search, WSDOT officials said.
WSDOT narrowed the search area to a 36-square-mile area with the help of a specialized radar forensics team, Tina Werner, a public information officer for WSDOT, previously told the Gateway.
The plane descended near the Jefferson and Grays Harbor county line on Quinault tribal land near Queets, Werner said.
“Primary radar returns were located that placed the aircraft near the coast between Lake Quinault and Queets,” Werner said. “The final radar plots show the aircraft made a very rapid descent to the ground.”
Multiple aerial and drone searches were conducted in the narrowed search area.
Because the narrowed search area consists of difficult terrain, ground searches were not conducted.
There are no plans for future searches.
Anyone who thinks they saw or heard a plane in the area is asked to call the State Emergency Operations Center at 1-800-258-5990. The plane’s tail number is N24289.
