UND Aerospace at the University of North Dakota has reported no contact with two pilots who departed St. Paul, Minnesota Tuesday evening at approximately 9:26 p.m. in a UND Piper Seminole.
Annette Klosterman, UND Aviation Flight Instructor from Seattle, Washington, and Adam Ostapenko, UND Aviation student from Duluth, Minnesota, were on a cross-country flight from Minneapolis enroute to Grand Forks, when Minneapolis Center last spoke to them during a routine conversation at 10:15 p.m. At that time they were in the St. Cloud vicinity, according to Peter Johnson, UND media relations coordinator.
The plane, which was expected to arrive in Grand Forks at 11:45, was declared missing half an hour later, at 12:15 a.m., and a notice was issued at 1:46 a.m., alerting the Civil Air Patrol, law enforcement agencies and others, said Elizabeth Cory Isham, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration in Chicago.
The flight was operating under visual flight rules, which involves minimal ground contact, Isham said.
"The flight plan was a straight line from the Twin Cities to Grand Forks," Johnson said.
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A ground search of all airports from St. Cloud to Grand Forks was conducted early this morning, and the Civil Air Patrol has dispatched five aircraft at daybreak to continue the search.
Standard search procedures call for a ground search 100 to 250 miles in either direction along the expected flight path, Isham said. UND pilots, aircraft reported missing 20071024
