The search for an aircraft which vanished after departing Wangaratta on Tuesday continues in the harsh alpine terrain of the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales.
The plane and its sole occupant have been missing since it failed to arrive at Moruya airport on the NSW South Coast around 4:30pm Tuesday after taking off from Wangaratta the same day.
A NSW Police spokesperson said emergency services were notified of the possible plane crash on Tuesday, about 500 metres off Dargals Trail, Snowy Valleys.
The aircraft's last known position was in the Snowy Mountains, east of Khancoban.
Duty manager at the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) response centre, Dan Gillis said AMSA’s fixed wing rescue jet and helicopter have been patrolling the area east of Khancoban in "low cloud and restricted visibility" on Thursday.
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“It’s a very challenging search due to the weather and terrain conditions which are quite hazardous at the moment,” he said.
An AMSA Challenger jet, HEMS Ambulance rescue helicopter from Victoria and Toll rescue helicopter from Bankstown conducted Wednesday’s search until it was suspended due to limited visibility.
The AMSA are coordinating the aerial response while NSW Police Alpine Operations teams are directing the multi-agency search efforts on the ground.
Police are supported by NSW SES, NSW Parks and Wildlife service and Snowy Hydro.
Mr Gillis said ground crews were having similar difficulties to their aerial counterparts.
“The ground crew are having significant challenges with access to the region, the trails are heavily snowed in, it’s very rugged terrain and very steep alpine terrain they are trying to navigate through,” he said.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, temperatures ranged between five and 11 degrees in Khancoban on Tuesday, with the possibility of above 1000 metres of snow.
Snow showers of above 1200 metres were forecasted for Thursday, while a chance of fog and frost was predicted Friday morning, with temperatures expected to drop to a minimum of -1 degrees.
