UPDATE: Debris Field Located in Search for Missing Plane

Jose Krall is a master baker and owner of the Maui Bake Shop and Deli at the corner of Vineyard and Church in Wailuku. The Cessna craft he was piloting on Saturday went missing from radar.  Maui Now file photo.

By Wendy Osher

(Update: 4:11 p.m. 12/2/12)

The Coast Guard has released the identity of the pilot aboard a private Cessna aircraft that went missing Saturday night as Jose Krall. Krall is the owner of the Maui Bake Shop & Deli in Wailuku.

Krall was believed to have been alone in the aircraft that was traveling from Maui to Molokai when it disappeared from radar at around 7 p.m. on Saturday, said Coast Guard officials.

Authorities from the US Coast Guard say a debris field that appears to be from an aircraft was located approximately two miles north of Maui, but confirmation that it is the missing Cessna has not been made. Included among the debris is a wheel that Coast Guard authorities say could match the aircraft.

A Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Air Station Barbers Point, the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Ahi, from Honolulu, and response boat crews from Coast Guard Station Maui continue to search the area for more signs of the Cessna 172S airplane and the pilot. An HC-130 Hercules airplane crew searched Saturday night using an infrared sensor.

Maui Fire Department and Maui Police Department conducted land searches without locating any signs of aircraft debris.

The public is asked to report the discovery of any aircraft debris to the Maui Police Department.

The Cessna 172S is a four-seat, single-engine, fixed-wing aircraft.

Aerial approach to Kahului Airport. File photo by Wendy Osher.

(Posted: 9:37 a.m. 12/2/12)

A debris field has been located by the US Coast Guard during a search for a missing private plane in waters off of Maui.

Authorities say the field appears to be from the missing 172S Cessna that disappeared from radar about 2.5 miles north of Maui’s North Shore at around 7 p.m. on Saturday night.

Officials with the US Coast Guard say the debris field is about two miles north of Maui, but confirmation that it is from the missing aircraft could not be made at last report.

The single engine craft was en route from Maui to Molokai when it was reported missing.  Coast Guard officials say it is unknown if anyone other than the pilot was aboard the fixed-wing four-seat aircraft.

A Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Air Station Barbers Point, the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Ahi, from Honolulu, and response boat crews from Coast Guard Station Maui continue searching the area today.

Maui Fire Department and Maui Police Department have conducted land searches without locating any signs of aircraft debris.  The Coast Guard will advise the two agencies if additional help is required.