EAST WENATCHEE — After more than two days of searching, rescuers have yet to locate a missing Glasair single-engine plane, piloted by Ed Jeffko, a former Tonasket city councilman, who took off from the Tonasket airport at 6:30 a.m. Monday and never reached his destination in Sequim.

About 45 people and eight aircraft searched the route from Tonasket to Sequim on Tuesday and today, and by 3:30 p.m. had nothing new to report, said Tom Peterson, the state Department of Transportation’s aviation emergency coordinator. They began the search Monday with four planes flying in the Sequim area and heading toward Tonasket.

Patrick Plumb, mayor of Tonasket and a good friend of the family, said Jeffko is in his 60s and a veteran pilot. He was councilman in the 1990s and remains active on the Tonasket Civil Service Board, Economic Development Committee and local airport.

“He’s been a big asset to the community for years,” Plumb said. “He’s been a pilot for years and has talked about making trips all over the state. He’s built his own plane, but bought the one he was flying.”

The state Department of Transportation, the Civil Air Patrol and Washington Air Search and Rescue set up a search base at Pangborn Memorial Airport on Tuesday morning, and will continue from that base today. Douglas County emergency officials are supporting the crews at Pangborn.

Crews on Tuesday took a closer look at an area in the Cascade Mountains where weather conditions could have made flying difficult, but found no indications of where to concentrate their search, Peterson said.

Officials have not located a flight plan, nor the plane’s emergency beacon. Peterson said pilots often don’t file a flight plan. “It’s basically a search and rescue plan,” he said, adding, “A lot of pilots fly without it.”

State Department of Transportation officials aiding in the search are asking for the public’s help in looking for the missing plane.

Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Jeffko and his plane are asked to contact the search base at missingaircraft@wsdot.wa.gov or 360-410-7757.

Christine Pratt: 665-1173

pratt@wenatcheeworld.com