Update: Missing Plane Wreckage Found on Coastal Bluff

Updated 4:45 p.m.

The wreckage of an Arizona-bound airplane that disappeared after taking off from the Half Moon Bay Airport on Monday was found on a coastal bluff west of the airport this afternoon, a sheriff spokeswoman said.

The single-engine Aeropro CZ A240 appears to have crashed near Seal Cove shortly after departing for Marana, Ariz., at 5:50 a.m. Monday, San Mateo County sheriff's spokeswoman Rebecca Rosenblatt said.

The pilot was killed in the crash, and the San Mateo County coroner's office was responding to the scene, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said.

The wreckage was found by search-and-rescue crews just after noon, and investigators from the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are heading to the crash site, Rosenblatt said.

--Bay City News

Updated 3:32 p.m.

The wreckage of a missing Arizona-bound airplane was found in Moss Beach this morning. Pilot Andrew Hayden, 75, of Florida, has not been recovered, reported the Half Moon Bay Review.

The Sheriff's Department was not available for an immediate response.

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Updated 2:37 p.m.

Police are setting up barricades around an area in Moss Beach to help in the search for an Arizona-bound plane that left Half Moon Bay Monday morning. The trail area at Bernal and Ocean avenues is closed off and officials are treating it as a crime scene.

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Updated 12:50 p.m. 

The U.S. Coast Guard is continuing to search the waters off the San Mateo County coast today for an Arizona-bound airplane that left the Half Moon Bay airport Monday morning and never arrived at its destination.

Airport officials in Marana, Ariz., and Half Moon Bay searched both facilities but found no trace of the aircraft.

A popular trail near Bernal and Ocean streets in Moss Beach has been closed, reportedly in conjunction with the search for the missing pilot, according to the Half Moon Bay Review.

No passengers were believed to have been on board.

The Coast Guard launched an offshore search for the missing plane at about 10:30 p.m., dispatching the 87-foot cutter Tern and a 45-foot motor rescue boat to comb the waters overnight, Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Mike Lutz said.

A fixed-wing aircraft was ready to join the search as soon as foggy conditions subsided today, Lutz said.

Volunteer units from the Civil Air Patrol were standing by to participate in an aerial search for the missing plane, Lt. Col. Alan Ferguson said.

Ferguson said that the CAP sent two planes to a mountainous area near the Central Valley east of San Mateo County where a possible signal from an emergency beacon was detected by a passing aircraft at about 10 p.m. Monday.

Emergency beacons are intended to be activated when an airplane crashes or crash lands, but can also be set off during an equipment test or rough landing, Ferguson said.

The CAP planes were unable to detect any beacon during an area search Monday night, he said.

The missing plane is considered a "sports plane" and is not required to fly with an emergency beacon, Ferguson said.

"We don't know if it had one on board or not," he said.

The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office is participating the search.

--Bay City News

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Officials are searching for a plane that flew out of Half Moon Bay Airport Monday morning but never reached its destination in Arizona.

The single-engine airplane Aeropro CZ A240 left around 5:50 a.m. with a planned fuel stop in Apple Valley. The pilot's wife said he intended to make a fuel stop at Apple Valley, Calif and reported the aircraft overdue when it failed to show up on schedule in Marana, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor told Patch.

The pilot's wife reported the aircraft overdue when it failed to show up on schedule in Marana, Gregor said. 

Airport officials in Half Moon Bay and Marana looked for the aircraft at both facilities but did not find it.

The US Air Force-run Rescue Coordination Center in Virginia arranges search missions for missing aircraft, and a search may be under way.

The U.S. Coast Guard is also searching the waters off the San Mateo County coast this morning for the small airplane.

A spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard said the search would extend about 20 nautical miles south of Half Moon Bay.

Patch will provide more details on this story as they come in. 

The aircraft's tail number is N72AH, and is registered to Andrew Hayden of Punta Gorda, Florida.

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