SAN FRANCISCO — The Coast Guard said it has found debris from an experimental aircraft that plummeted into the Pacific, but it has ended the search for the pilot who was apparently unconscious before it crashed, according to the latest Update
The small, experimental aircraft bound for Hesperia from Phoenix crashed into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday night more than 450 miles off the coast of Point Reyes, prompting a search-and-rescue response from the Air Force and Coast Guard, Federal Aviation Administration
The Coast Guard said in a statement late Friday that it searched a 368-square-mile area by boat and plane, but it could not find the pilot.
FAA officials released a statement Friday reporting that the Lancair Evolution aircraft departed from Phoenix Deer Valley Airport at 6:15 p.m. for a flight to Hesperia, but "air traffic controllers lost communication with the pilot as the plane flew westbound at 25,000 feet." Controllers were reportedly unable to contact the pilot despite repeated attempts. The FAA lost radar contact with the plane over the Pacific Ocean about 350 miles west of the San Francisco Bay area.
The Coast Guard was alerted around 7:40 p.m. when the pilot still did not respond to ground control questioning and was heading out to sea, authorities said in an Associated Press report. The Air Force and Coast Guard sent two F-16 jets and two other planes to contact the plane, and tracked the experimental plane for three hours.
The AP article said the pilot was seen "slumped over the controls before crashing."
Local residents on Friday took to social media to report that the plane's pilot is a local father from Hesperia, and the pilot's ex-wife identified him as Troy Johnson. Authorities are not releasing the pilot's name, but his ex-wife said that Johnson has top secret security clearance as an (UAV) unmanned aerial vehicle pilot.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.