| Office of Public Affairs U.S. Coast Guard Seventh District |
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| Press Release |
Date: 01 October, 2004 Contact: LTjg Eric Willis |
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SEARCH SUSPENDED FOR MISSING PILOT SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - At 9:20 a.m the U.S. Coast Guard officially suspended the search for Mr. Gamiler Rivera, 28, the pilot of a light twin engine airplane that crashed Wednesday night. The Coast Guard has flown ten helicopter searches totaling 12.6 hours in the air along with two small boats searching north of Puerto Rico. Once the crash site was located, the area was saturated with helicopter and surface assets in hopes of finding Rivera alive. As of this morning that was not the case and the search for any survivors has been suspended. Assisting in the search was Puerto Rico Police departments Forces United for Rapid Action (FURA) unit which first spotted the wreckage in the search area yesterday morning. As the lead maritime search and rescue agency in the area, we coordinate closely with other agencies. After an exhaustive search, Captain Douglas Rudolph, Commander Sector San Jaun, made the decision this morning to suspend the search. ### The U.S. Coast Guard is a military, maritime, multi-mission service within the |
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