Venezuela: Searchers find nothing but questions 40 days after missionary plane s disappearance

March 27, 2009 – Gran Sabana, Bolivar, Venezuela…[Libna Stevens/IAD]

More than one month since the disappearance of a medical missionary plane over the jungles of southeast Venezuela, searchers are still puzzled and continue to hunt for clues.

The Cessna 182N carrying Pilot Robert Norton and his wife, along with five other passengers, went missing early on February 16. They were transporting sick patients for special medical attention. (see previous story here).

David Gates, who is the founder of the Adventist Medical Aviation (AMA), the organization which Norton and his wife were leading in Venezuela, recently spent a couple of days in Venezuela trying to sort out information gathered by the search party.

Gates confirmed with the plane's mechanic that the Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) on the plane was in perfect operating order.

“Since there was no signal reported or picked by any airlines or searchers, we have to assume the possibility that the plane did not crash but disappeared for other reasons,” he said.

There were also a long series of transmissions coming from Norton before the plane went missing that were not intelligible due to harsh weather conditions at the time.

“Bob rarely made long transmissions so there must have been some serious problem,” Gates added.

Gates says that a crash into a cliff wall has been basically ruled out “as the governor's helicopter has done careful searches at the base of all possible cliffs, which fortunately have only low bush which make it easy to see the ground.”

While the search is still on, Gates continues to be updated on the findings and remains optimistic that the plane will be found.

“We encourage everyone to keep praying for all persons involved as the search continues,” pleads Gates.