Snowmachines today joined aircraft and boats in the hunt for an air ambulance that vanished three days ago over Prince William Sound. The ground search is chasing a lead that went nowhere earlier.
A motorist on the Seward Highway reported seeing something Wednesday on Spencer Glacier. A helicopter search of the area turned up nothing, authorities said.
But as part of a search effort that hasn't relented despite three nights and two days of futility, snowmachiners were headed to the glacier this morning to make sure nothing's there, said McHugh Pierre, spokesman for the Alaska Division of Military and Veteran Affairs.
"The Alaska Railroad is sending snowmachines out there this morning," Pierre said.
That's just one way in which the search has expanded beyond Esther Island, the last known location of the BK117 LifeGuard helicopter with a patient and three crew members aboard.
"We're taking every theoretical flight path they may have taken - turning around and going back to Thompson Pass, or trying to find an exit through the weather to a small community," Pierre said.
The multipronged search involves military, state and private resources, including a Coast Guard cutter that has been in the waters near Esther Island for more than 48 hours.
The Alaska Air National Guard has been searching since Monday night, when the LifeGuard went missing about 40 minutes into a scheduled 90-minute flight from Cordova to Anchorage.
It's had a C-130 and a Pave Hawk helicopter on the scene since them. The Coast Guard joined the search Tuesday, launching the 225-foot cutter Sycamore from Cordova early that morning. It's since added a Jayhawk helicopter to what's become a small army of searchers.
The Alaska State Troopers deployed Helo-1 Wednesday and today. The fleet of small, private aluminum fishing boats from Whittier grew from three to five today, and volunteer pilots in the Valdez Civil Air Patrol are helping for the second straight day.
And now, the Alaska Railroad is sending two snowmachines to check out Spencer Glacier.
"We want to exhaust all opportunities," Pierre said.
The search will continue until the Air Guard's Rescue Coordination Center determines all efforts have been made or until the weather becomes a danger.
"That'll be some days from now," Pierre said - unless bad weather intervenes.
The first night and first full day of the search were hindered because heavy snow and strong winds grounded helicopters and limited visibility. Wednesday brought some breaks in the clouds, allowing helicopters to take flight and making a visual search possible for the first time.
Pierre said today's weather has been similarly favorable.
The LifeGuard was last heard from at 5:18 p.m. Monday. Onboard were pilot Lance Brabham, 42, of Soldotna; paramedic Cameron Carter, 24, of Kenai; nurse John Stumpff, 47, of Sterling; and patient Gaye McDowell, 60, of Cordova.
