Search for missing pilot continues
10:50 AM PDT on Tuesday, October 13, 2009
By ROB PIERCY / KING 5 News
ARLINGTON, Wash. – Search crews today plan to continue their search for a pilot who has been missing from Snohomish County since Saturday afternoon.
Rescue crews are working from a search base at Arlington Municipal Airport. They say their operations depend on weather.
Gordon Last, 51, left Harvey Field in Snohomish with no flight plan or an emergency radio beacon. When he never returned, his family reported him missing.
“I’m really scared, but I’m still hopeful. I know he’s still alive. He’s always been a survivor and he’s gonna survive this,” said Gordon’s girlfriend, Delvia Abila.
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David Last said his brother was only going to go up for a couple of hours.
“It’s an older plane. You have to start it by spinning the prop,” said David.
Searchers with the Washington State Department of Transportation and the Civil Air Patrol are now trying to find the proverbial “needle in a haystack.” Delvia and David say Gordon would often fly to Darrington, Arlington and even the San Juans.
Airplanes are flying over remote parts of Snohomish County, searching in a grid pattern over places Last was known to travel.
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Gordon Last
Delvia believes Gordon is still alive. Recently, he stocked up his plane with water and food in case of an emergency. He has enough supplies to last a few days. But the greater concern is the temperature, which is at or below freezing in the mountains.
Searchers will continue looking for the missing pilot as the weather permits.
