Yellowstone National Park South Entrance, Yellowstone visitation

Small Plane Reported Missing Near Yellowstone National Park

A small plane has been reported as missing near or in Yellowstone National Park, as the craft piloted by two octogenarians brothers was last detected about seven miles outside the Park’s East Entrance. UPDATE: The plane has been found.

From the Seattle Times:

An 86-year-old Seattle man and his 84-year-old brother on a flying trip around the country in their single-engine plane are missing near Yellowstone National Park.

The search for the pair has been hampered by deep snow and poor weather over the weekend, according to authorities.

Ward Zimmerman, a retired Boeing engineer, and his brother, Robert Zimmerman, of Huntsville, Al., had been flying for several weeks on the pleasure trip.

The pair took off from Cody’s Yellowstone Regional Airport en route to Twin Falls, Idaho, a trip that would take them directly over a portion of Yellowstone. The last reported radar sighting of the plane was seven miles east of the East Entrance — rough and hilly territory that still has upwards of 90 inches of snow on the ground. The weather has not been cooperating with any search, as cold weather and more snow is impacting the search launched by the Park County Sheriff’s Office. There’s been no sight of the plane, and attempts to locate a Emergency Location Transmitter have been unsuccessful.

UPDATE: The plane has been found just outside Yellowstone on the side of a mountain at a 9,900-foot elevation. Crews attempted to reach the plane, but the high danger of avalanche kept them away. No word on whether the brothers are alive.

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