March 24, 2011
Augusta, Maine – Maine Warden Service Pilot
Daryl Gordon, a 25-year veteran of this conservation law enforcement
agency, has died in a plane crash.
Pilot
Gordon was reported as missing at approximately 8 p.m. Thursday by
his wife, Rita, when he did not return to their Eagle Lake home from
his day of patrol. His plane was located at 8:50 a.m. today on Clear
Lake in T10 R11 WELS (Piscataquis County) when a ping from an
aircraft emergency locator transmitter was picked up. A Maine Forest
Service helicopter and a Civil Air Patrol plane located Pilot Gordon.
“Routinely Maine game wardens put their lives on the line in
dangerous conditions. People only hear about it when tragedies
occur,” said MWS Col. Joel Wilkinson. “A tragedy now has hit our home
and the Gordon home.”
Today’s recovering efforts have included numerous law enforcement
agencies flying into the remote area to bring in emergency crews and
equipment. A joint investigation is being conducted by the Maine
Warden Service, the Maine State Police, the Federal Aviation
Administration and National Transportation Safety Board.
Pilot Gordon will be brought to the Maine Medical Examiner’s Office
in Augusta for an autopsy. Wardens will remain with their colleague
until his funeral service is completed.
Pilot Gordon was one of three Maine Warden Service pilots, and was
stationed at the Eagle Lake seaplane base in Aroostook County.
On Thursday night, after the call was received by Mrs. Gordon, game
wardens immediately began trying to determine his whereabouts.
Earlier in the day Thursday, Pilot Gordon was at the Maine Warden
Service seaplane based in Greenville, where he dropped off his plane
for scheduled maintenance. He departed in another MWS plane at
approximately 2 p.m.
Pilot Gordon was flying general patrol north of Moosehead Lake, which
consists of providing support and information to wardens on the
ground and surveying the area for deer. During the patrol he received
information that Warden Andrew Smart was stuck with his snowmobile in
deep slush on Eagle Lake (T8 R13 WELS in Piscataquis County) along
the Allagash Waterway.
Pilot Gordon located Warden Smart and landed to provide necessary
assistance. Both flew to another location where they retrieved a
come-along in order to free the mired snowmobile. Upon freeing the
snowmobile, Warden Smart and Pilot Gordon parted ways. Pilot Gordon
was last seen by Warden Smart as he flew up the lake in the direction
of his home base.
Warden Smart described the area as experiencing snow squalls as
Gordon flew away.
Pilot Gordon was flying a red 1981 185 Cessna on skis, which allowed
him to land on frozen surfaces. The plane was equipped with two
locating devices. The first was a web-base satellite tracking device
that is present on all State of Maine planes, which permits Public
Safety Dispatchers to monitor their location for emergency calls. The
second locating device was an Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT),
which transmits a radio signal in the event of a crash.
The last information provided by the satellite tracking device
confirmed Pilot Gordon was in the area of Eagle Lake, where he
assisted Smart. There had been no signal detected from the ELT.
Two Maine Warden Service planes and a Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
– Houlton Air Branch plane responded to search. One of the Maine
Warden Service planes and the CBP Cessna are equipped with a Forward
Looking Infrared Device (FLIR). They flew until approximately 3 a.m.
today. No evidence of Pilot Gordon’s whereabouts was located last
night.
Search efforts resumed today at 7 a.m. A Maine Warden Service
Incident Command Team lead the search from Ashland and Presque Isle.
Dozens of game wardens and eight aircraft also were deployed,
including two Maine Warden Service aircraft, two Civil Air Patrol
aircraft, a CBP helicopter, two Department of Conservation (DOC)
helicopters, one DOC fixed wing aircraft, and a U.S. Border Patrol
helicopter. Search efforts also were supported by the Maine
Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the Maine Department
of Public Safety. CBP and the Maine Forest Service brought
investigators to the scene.
Pilot Gordon is survived by his wife, Rita, and two sons, Daryl Jr.
and James III.
Pilot Gordon was a veteran of the Maine Warden Service, serving as a
Maine Game Warden for 25 years and as a Warden Pilot for
approximately 7 years. He has more than 12 years experience as a
pilot.
He joined the Maine Warden Servicer in February 1986, and was first
assigned to Calais. Throughout his career, he was assigned to
Lincoln, Skowhegan and Bingham before being promoted to pilot in June
2004.
Pilot Gordon graduated from Hartland Academy in 1968. In 1969, he
served 18 months of active duty in the United States Marine Corps,
with 12 of those months in Vietnam where he was promoted to corporal
and platoon commander and in charge of 12 Marines and 25 Vietnamese
troops.
His Maine Warden Service accomplishments include an Exemplary Service
Award in 2009. The northern division awards board, in its nomination
report, said “Warden Pilot Gordon shows his dedication throughout the
year, whether it is in helping with routine patrol or specific
details. He is always thinking of the wardens on the ground and how
he can help them. His ability to be a team player, his initiative,
quick thinking and training, reflects upon the inherent quality,
dedication and support of the Maine Warden Service and the Department
of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
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