The Daily Alaska empire., 1947-10-27
CAPT. M0NSEN IS PILOT OF 
No Report from Searehers -18 Aboard Alaska
 Bound Graft


 Improving weather conditions
 aided widespread land, sea and
 air search today for four-eneined 1 Pan American World Airways Clip per plane with IS aboard that dis appeared Sunday near Ketchikan in rain and windstorm which lashed the Southeast Alaska coast.
 The first search plane, Coast Guard Gruman, left Ketchikans
 Annette Island airport at 7:15 a
 m. Visibility was good in the ketchikan area. with the wind 1e miles an hour and decreasing. Crewmen of another Pan Ameri- , can DC-4 which arrived at Se-
 attle from Alaska early today said | they circled the Annette Island area in darkness without sighting any flares The plane was quick ! ly refueled to return north with Ia PAA search party headed by Capt. Ralph Savory, Chief Pilot of the Airlines' Alaskan Division Lt Comdr. Edward Chester, Aide to Alaskas Gov Ernest Gruening.
 was placed in charge of the CO.,. : ordinated search here.
 Planes from Ketchiksa were to : sean the Admiralty Is.a:ld area. where one report said residents heard an airplane circling for some time Sunday
 The 44-passenger transport, | which was carry.rg only l3 pas sengers. including one infant, and a crew of five. disappeared yester-
 day after radioing the Annette airport at l44 D. m. fPST) that
 extreme turbulence" prevented a
 contemplated instrument landing
 Gusts of 40 miles an hour were
 being recorded then at the Annette ! field, l2 miles from Ketchikan. Winds gradually increased during the day until they reached 63 miles an hour by 9:30 D. m. Hopes that the PAA Clipper may have survived the storm and made an emergency landing hung lon the reputation of the pilot, Capt. Ali Monsen, of Juneau, one of Alaska's rest known bush fliers before he joined Pan Americans : Alaska Division in 1882.
 Last Report Monsen said in his last report he was heading into the storm to Juneau, approximately 230 miles northward His plane had gasoline
 enough to last until $40 D. m. i Disappearance of the Clipper "Talisman' with the greatest num-
 Der of persons aboard of any civ 1 ilian plane yet reported missing , in Alaska set into motion one of ! the Territory's largest and most i widespread searches
 1 Bomters and a long-range trans ! port from Air Force bases at An chorage and Fairbanks took off ! for Annette field
 | Three Coast Guard Cutters put
 out from Southeast Alaska ports late Sunday and were to extend their operations during the day. 1 Five vessels of the Alaska For est Service and two planes and
 three ships of the Fish and Wild life Service were ordered to join the hunt today.
 1 Cannery boats were alerted to
 be on the lookout for any trace
 of the missing Clipper, and log ging camps were asked for any clues.
 Ten light planes were scheduled ! to comb the area within 40 miles of Annette, and six other planes will range farther out under the direction of the Coast Guard. Three planes of the 10th Rescue squadron are to search the air. ways from Gustavus to Annette i Island
 Others Join Search tn Seattle the Coast Guard announced it had requested that a B-l7 be flown from San Fran cisco to aid in the hunt. and that the Royal Canadian Airforce at Vancouver, B C.. had offered
 the services of Hudson bombero Sheldon Simmons, famed Alaskan bush pilot now flying for Alaska Coastal Airlines out of Juneau, and