Pilot Missing in Snow-Covered Mountains After Plane Is Found Crashed in 'Steep Alpine Terrain'
A pilot is missing after his plane was disappeared in the Snowy Mountains of Australia on Tuesday, July 15
David Stephens, 74, was not located when his 1966 Beechcraft Debonair plane was found by search teams on Thursday, July 17
Stephens was traveling to Moruya on the New South Wales coast when he took off from Wangaratta in VictoriaThe pilot of a small aircraft is missing after it was found crashed in a remote area of the Snowy Mountains in Australia.
David Stephens, 74, was not located when his 1966 Beechcraft Debonair plane was discovered by search and rescue teams on Thursday, July 17, according to news.com.au.
The missing flyer took off from the town of Wangaratta in Victoria on Tuesday and was en route to Moruya on the New South Wales coast, around 350 miles to the east, reported the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC),
The wreckage of the aircraft, which had been missing since Tuesday, was found at around 4 p.m. on Thursday, and search teams are now scouring the Snowy Mountains for any signs of him.
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'About 4.35 p.m. on Tuesday, July 15 2025, emergency services were notified of a possible plane crash in the vicinity of Dargals Trail, Snowy Valleys,' the New South Wales Police Force wrote in a release.
'The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) was notified by Air Services Australia that a plane took off from Victoria, bound for Moruya Airport; however, it never arrived.'
'About 8.30 a.m. today (Wednesday, July 16), the multi-agency search resumed, involving officers attached to NSWS Police Rescue and Bomb Disposal Unit, State Emergency Services, National Parks and Wildlife Service and Snowy Hydro,' officials added.
'The AMSA Challenger rescue jet and two helicopters, from Victoria and Sydney conducted an overhead search,' the release continued. 'About 4.00 p.m. today (Thursday, July 17, 2025), a rescue helicopter located what is believed to be the crashed plane near the plane's last known GPS location.'
Authorities concluded, 'NSW Police Force now have carriage of this matter with investigations to continue tomorrow (Friday, July 18, 2025).'
Dan Gilllis, duty manager at the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) also told ABC, "The trails are heavily snowed in. It's very rugged terrain and very steep alpine terrain that they're trying to navigate through."
PEOPLE has contacted NSW Police Force and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) for further comment
According to ABC, Stephen's wife Lynda Leigh described her husband as an experienced pilot.
"Unfortunately, David disappeared on his flight home on Tuesday after having his aircraft inspected," she told the outlet. 'It is known that the mountain weather can turn very quickly, and we can only assume he must have seen a way over the mountain to decide not to turn back to Wangaratta.'
"David has quite a bit of experience flying that plane, but we can't know what situation he was facing, and we'll only have answers once they locate the plane and with that David," she added.
Stephens was also a member of the Frog's Hollow Flyers aero club.
Tony Rettke, the club's president, told ABC that he had serviced his plane at Wangaratta before take off.
"[It would] only be a minor amount of work, the aircraft was immaculate, an incredibly beautiful aircraft, well maintained," he said. 'He must have done everything he needed to do, just with a basic service, probably an oil change, the usual stuff that goes with 100 hours, and he headed off that afternoon."
Stephens is set to retire from his career in accounting in two months, reported ABC.
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