Search turns up beeping plane

Published 5:00 pm Wednesday, September 26, 2007

KIMBERLY – The Grant County Sheriff’s Office launched an air search Wednesday, Sept. 26, after an emergency transmitter indicated that an aircraft might have gone down in the mountains.

The search was called off when the transmission turned out to be a false alarm.

The cause was an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) that went off for unknown reasons in a parked airplane, according to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff Glenn Palmer said he received a report at 8:40 a.m. Sept. 26 of the transmission from Oregon Emergency Management, which indicated the problem was in the vicinity of Lands Inn, just off Dick Creek Road in Northwest Grant County.

Palmer said his office contacted someone at Lands Inn who had limited English skills but seemed to indicate that there were no aircraft on the ground there.

The sheriff activated the air search because of the remoteness of the area and the indication that there were no parked planes as a possible source. He also requested aid from Wheeler County, as Grant County has no locator equipment that can be used from the ground.

However, when the sheriff went to Lands Inn he found that four aircraft and a glider were on the private airstrip. Searchers also determined that there were no reports of overdue craft, and no eyewitness reports of a plane in trouble.

Palmer contacted owner Tom Buce and he verified that one of the aircraft there was transmitting the signal.

“Evidently, these things can activate for no reason or even a small jarring or bumping,” said Palmer.

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