6°

A search for two Juneau men whose floatplane disappeared Aug. 9 expanded over the weekend as friends of the Andrews family volunteered with Juneau Mountain Rescue doing ground searches on Douglas Island.

Twelve to 14 volunteers included family friends and co-workers of Brian Andrews, who is the deputy commissioner for the Alaska Department of Revenue, said Doug Wessen, administrative director for Juneau Mountain Rescue.

Andrews, 54, and his 24-year-old son, Brandon Andrews, were reported missing when their Cessna-182 did not return from a flight to a cabin at Young Lake.

No sign of the men or their plane had been reported as of Monday afternoon.

"(Our family) is incredibly grateful for the many people who have worked so hard to try to find them," Brian Andrews' wife, Joyce, said Monday. "There's no way we can ever thank people enough or express our gratitude."

The family set up a Web site at http://andrewsinak.wordpress.com to provide information on the search. Well-wishers have posted notes and prayers on the site.

Search efforts by air over the past 10 days were largely hampered due to persistent fog and low visibility.

More than two dozen members of Juneau Mountain Rescue have been involved in the search, Wessen said Monday, putting in about 425 total hours, plus another 170 hours on the ground by volunteers.

Rescue team members hiked North Douglas Island from the boat ramp to Hilda Point along the shoreline and into the woods. Another search party hiked from Eaglecrest Ski Area to Hilda Point.

The team also had spotters on a National Guard Blackhawk helicopter looking on Admiralty Island over the weekend when weather allowed.

"The flight patterns were done in a tight grid with one-tenth of a mile spacing," Wessen said. "We crisscrossed several times over the same areas."

The U.S. Coast Guard is in charge of the search. It has used several helicopters and a cutter to search a 2,000-square-mile area, with Civil Air Patrol and private aircraft assistance.

NorthStar Trekking donated helicopter time, a pilot and spotters Monday, said General Manager Craig Jennison. The company was one of several in Juneau that participated.

A state Department of Fish & Game vessel spent a combined 32 hours Thursday and Friday sailing in waters around Young Bay and Stephens Passage using underwater sonar to search for the plane.

The Coast Guard was scheduled to hold a meeting at 7 p.m. Monday to discuss what else could be done, said Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters.

Good weather Monday allowed the Coast Guard to cover all areas it had wanted to cover, she said.