Brookings, Ore., — The search continues for a crashed plane off the Brookings coast.
Crews from multiple local law enforcement agencies used new sonar equipment today, but poor underwater visibility and the rocky bottom left them again empty handed tonight, and without answers.
Search and rescue crews from Josephine and Curry County were on the water early this morning about a half mile off Rainbow Rock Beach.
They’re looking for a plane carrying grants pass residents John and Max Belnap and their friend Ryan Merker, that is presumed to have crashed off the coast.
Today they used new sonar scanning equipment that arrived from Idaho last night to search the 65-foot deep water.
They searched all morning and found oil slicks, and the sonar boat picked up a “C” shaped object in the depths, but divers in the water couldn’t find it.
Poor visibility prevented them from seeing beyond 8 feet, and with rocks both on the surface and below, the search has proven to be difficult.
“Oil certainly doesn’t pop up from the bottom of the ocean for no reason at all, especially in the small drops and trickles that we’re getting. We know we’re in the right area, we know the plane went down somewhere in the area that we’re searching.” said Josephine County Sheriff Dave Daniel.
As for continuing the search, Daniel says that weather permitting, they will not stop until they’re found.
He says even though this is a search and recovery operation, at the end of the day it’s about bringing the men home.
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