Plane from Truckee bound for Petaluma missing

Civil Air Patrol crews from California and Nevada are searching for a small plane that failed to arrive at its scheduled destination at the Petaluma Municipal Airport after taking off from Truckee on Monday.

The four-seat, blue and white Socata TB-20 with two people aboard left the Truckee Tahoe Airport just before 4 p.m. Monday, according to Civil Air Patrol Lt. Col. Crystal Housman.

The Civil Air Patrol was activated for the search on Tuesday shortly after midnight after family members reported the plane overdue Monday night at the Petaluma airport at 601 Sky Ranch Drive.

Foul weather in the area prevented the air patrol crewmembers from launching overnight and Tuesday morning, but the weather improved by mid-afternoon Tuesday, Housman said.

Radar analysis and cellphone forensics have helped narrow the search Wednesday to a rugged area of the Sierra Nevada mountain range northwest of Truckee, and the plane’s last known position was in an area 20 miles northwest of Truckee, Housman said.

A California Highway Patrol helicopter, an air patrol ground team consisting of four volunteers from Palo Alto and Sacramento and a ground team from the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office also are searching for the plane.

The plane has an emergency locator transmitter, but no signals have been received, Housman said.

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