Missing plane found in Greenbrier

Local News

December 1, 2009

By Amelia A. Pridemore The Register-Herald Tue Dec 01, 2009, 10:54 PM EST

West Virginia Civil Air Patrol teams in Greenbrier County found the wreckage Tuesday of a small plane that disappeared eight days ago.

The pilot, who planned to fly from Texas to Virginia, was found dead at the scene, authorities said.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lynn Lunsford said Virginia resident Kwan Kwok’s sister reported him missing. Kwok’s sister told authorities he had recently bought the Piper PA-30 in Dalhart, Texas, to fly back to his home state. Kwok’s hometown and age were not available.

Kwok departed from a municipal airport in Dalhart, located in Texas’ northern panhandle, on Nov. 23, said Maj. Jeff Schrock, public affairs officer for the Civil Air Patrol’s West Virginia Wing. The Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida notified the West Virginia Wing Sunday.

The search area was recommended based on satellite tracking.

Once the CAP was notified, air crews and ground teams were assembled, and they focused their initial search on southern West Virginia, Schrock said. Tuesday, they began to focus on Greenbrier County.

At 9:40 a.m., a Clarksburg Composite Squadron air crew spotted the plane’s wreckage about 5 miles north of Rainelle, Schrock said. However, the crash site could not be confirmed until 1:30 p.m. Ground crews must actually do the confirmation by gathering data like tail numbers.

The ground crews had to walk through heavy terrain in the heavily wooded area, Schrock said. They found the pilot’s body at the site.

Schrock said the investigation has been turned over to the State Police. The National Transportation Safety Board and FAA are typically involved with such investigations, as well.

Kwok did not file a flight plan, officials said. The plane was equipped with an emergency locator transmitter, but no signal was received.

The last known contact with Kwok was when he left the Texas airport. The planned flight would have lasted about four to five hours.

Weather conditions at the time were windy, with low clouds and drizzling rain.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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