Primary finding
Probable cause
Undetermined because the airplane and pilot were not located.
Investigator assessment
Analysis narrative
The pilot was reported missing after he had not returned from a presumed cross-county flight. A multi-agency search for the missing pilot and airplane was conducted; however, neither the pilot, airplane, nor wreckage debris was located. Radar data believed to represent the missing airplane showed a westerly track over the Pacific Ocean. The last know radar position was about 57 miles west of the shoreline.
Source record
Factual narrative
On February 12, 2020, about 1659 Pacific standard time, a Luscombe 8A airplane, N77875, was presumed destroyed when it went missing over the Pacific Ocean. The pilot has not been located. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight. The airplane departed Columbia Gorge Regional Airport (KDLS), The Dalles Port, Washington, about 1600 en route to an unknown destination. No flight plan was filed. On February 14, 2020, approximately 1205, a family member reported the pilot and airplane missing. Later that day, a Federal Aviation Administration Alert Notice (ALNOT) was issued and a search for the missing pilot and airplane commenced. The search was conducted by the Civil Air Patrol, US Coast Guard, Klickitat County Sheriff's Office and Lane County Sheriff's Office. Representatives from the Klickitat County Sheriff’s Office reported that the airplane’s last known position was over the Pacific Ocean about 57 miles west of the coastline. In a subsequent report, they stated a radar track, believed to be that of the missing airplane, showed the airplane on a westbound heading before the track ended. The last radar return was at 1659, about 57 miles west of the Oregon shoreline at 43:45:39N, 125:30:42W. A search of the area surrounding the last known position was conducted by the US Coast Guard, but neither the pilot nor debris was located. On February 15, 2020, land and sea-based searches were suspended. The missing airplane, a 1946 Luscombe 8A, was not equipped with an electrical system or transponder.