The official search for missing pilot Michael Arthur Bratlie and his white twin engine Piper PA31 Navajo, a red and blue striped plane, has been discontinued.
Bratlie, 67, of Lakeville, Minn., disappeared on Friday evening, June 8, after he didn’t come home from a trip to Duluth. He told family members he was flying from Fleming Field in St. Paul to Duluth and back again that day. When he didn’t return his family notified the Federal Aviation Administration and ask for help in locating him.
Bratlie was a Navy and retired Northwest airline pilot with thousands of hours of flying time to his credit. He was last heard from when a trace on his cell phone indicated he was northeast of Silver Bay. His plane was also lost from radar about the time his cell phone went dead.
Authorities spent the first few days searching the waters in and around the area where Bratlie was last detected. Minnesota Civil Air Patrol planes and a U.S. Coast Guard boat were used in the search. Later they moved their operation into Cook County, searching the rugged ground and cold waters of Lake Superior.
Minnesota’s Civil Air Patrol used nine planes and sent more than 60 volunteers out looking for Bratlie. Cook County and Lake County law enforcement also participated, as well as Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fire spotting planes. Although more than 650 hours were logged by planes and countless more by boat and rescue personnel on foot, no trace of Bratlie or his plane was ever found.
The search officially ended on Sunday, June 24.
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