The search for missing pilot Andrew Lindberg in expanses of Minnesota brush, farmland and lakes continued for a third day Monday and remains a rescue mission.
"We are not in recovery mode," said Maj. Al Pabon of the Civil Air Patrol. "There are all sorts of emotions involved here, but from the folks I've talked to ... they have fervent hope to find him alive."
Lindberg, 32, earned his pilot's license a few months ago and was flying his family's small Piper Cherokee plane from Lakeville to Hallock in northwestern Minnesota on Friday when he vanished from the sky. Ground and air searches by multiple law enforcement agencies and hundreds of volunteers have not recovered any piece of the plane or items belonging to Lindberg.
He left Airlake Airport near Lakeville about 5 p.m. for the 400-mile flight, bound to arrive at 8 p.m. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) service station in Minneapolis lost radar contact with Lindberg's plane about 6:30 p.m. Friday. That's about the same time his father, Bill Lindberg, said he received a text message from his son that the skies were clear and blue.
"It disappeared from their screen," Pabon said.
It's unclear if Lindberg crashed, continued flying or landed his plane in a field or on a private air strip. The plane was not equipped to land on water, which dots the area rescuers searched all weekend and Monday. Bill Lindberg said he received a call from his son's phone at 8:46 p.m. Friday with no voice on the other end. Authorities will not confirm or deny his account.
Authorities zeroed their search on a 2,000-square-mile area between Wadena and Fosston, based on where the FAA lost radar contact with the plane and Lindberg's final destination. The newlywed, a Met Life financial adviser living in Farmington, was on his way to hunt deer with his father and a close friend.
"When you're looking in such a big piece of real estate such as central Minnesota, an aircraft is very small," Pabon said. "It could have crash landed in a body of water, in a ravine or in brush and be camouflaged at this point."
Planes such as the one Lindberg was flying should have a device that sends out a signal tracked by satellite in the event of an emergency, but a signal was not detected for the Piper Cherokee, Pabon said.
Authorities planned to resume their search at sunrise today, Pabon said.
Chao Xiong • 612-673-4391
