Searchers this morning got their first look from the air of the Prince William Sound waters where they think an air ambulance with four people aboard went down.
An hour into their search, they had seen no sign of wreckage, an emergency locator device or the passengers, said a spokesman for the search effort.
A LifeGuard helicopter carrying patient Gay McDowell of Cordova, pilot Lance Brabham of Soldotna, paramedic Cameron Carter of Kenai and nurse John Stumpff of Sterling vanished in nasty weather Monday evening.
Heavy snow, strong winds and poor visibility hindered search efforts Monday night and most of Tuesday, keeping helicopters grounded and limiting C-130s to electronic and radar searches.
As Wednesday dawned, holes in the clouds permitted choppers to fly over Esther Island, where the LifeGuard made its final progress report at 5:18 p.m. Monday
"The weather's looking better," said McHugh Pierre, spokesman for the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. "There's still cloud coverage, but there are some holes so the copters can go through to do visual searches.
"The weather might change later today, so we want to take advantage of that."
In the air were a Pavehawk helicopter and a C-130 from the Alaska Air National Guard and a Jayhawk helicopter from the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard cutter Sycamore, which has been in the Sound since Tuesday morning, continued its water search with the assistance of three private fishing boats from Whittier.
The LifeGuard lifted off from the Cordova airport at 4:40 p.m. Monday. It was bound for Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, about 150 miles and 90 minutes away.
