Rescuers Seek Plane Missing for Two Weeks

RIVERSIDE —  Orange County Search and Rescue volunteers in a private helicopter on Friday flew low-level flights over barren, isolated parts of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, but failed to find any sign of a small plane that disappeared en route to Fullerton two weeks ago.

Fixed-wing aircraft under the supervision of the Civil Air Patrol also crisscrossed the Mojave Desert again Friday, but also didn’t turn up any clues as to the whereabouts of the twin-engine Cessna with five aboard.

The missing plane took off Nov. 14 from Bullhead City, Ariz., bound for the Fullerton Airport.

Meanwhile on Friday, a sister of the missing plane’s pilot pleaded for the search to continue.

“Family members are afraid the search may be stopped after this weekend, but this can’t be left unsolved,” said Jill Niemela, of La Mirada. Her brother Richard, 37, also of La Mirada, was the plane’s pilot.

A Civil Air Patrol spokeswoman at Apple Valley Airport said no date has been set for stopping the search.

“Right now we don’t know when the search will end,” said Capt. Nancy Brady, a CAP public affairs officer. “We’ve got aircraft out searching again (Friday), and we had aircraft out on Thanksgiving also.”

The others on the missing plane were Kathy Bird, 33, and her husband, Jeff Bird, 32, of Fullerton; Jeff’s brother, Bradley Bird, 33, of Placentia, and Natalie Erickson, 19, of Placentia.