A search and rescue operation was immediately launched, with 14 planes from the area launched the next morning to begin systematically searching for the missing aircraft and any sign of survivors.
Officials held out hope that the small plane had been able to land in a small, flat area and that its limited radio range was being blocked by the rugged terrain in the region.

Commander of the Oregon National Guard Gen. Raymond F. Olson authorized the 123rd National Guard Air Squadron to assist in the search and rescue operation, as needed, with at least 4 planes immediately dispatched from their base in Portland.

The search was targeted to the vicinity of Dog Lake in Lake County due to a telephone tip from a cattle ranch employee camped in the vicinity, who reported having heard the faltering engine of a small plane shortly after 10:00 pm the previous evening.
This lead searchers based out of Lakeview Airport to search the vicinity of Dog Lake, where they discovered the plane's crash site about 2 miles west of the lake at 4:00 pm on October 29.
The nearest town to the site of the crash was the hamlet of Bly, located 22 miles north of the nearly inaccessible, heavily forested place of impact.

The crash had occurred in a mountainous region at about 6,000 feet elevation, with the hillsides heavily timbered in mature Ponderosa pine.
Those originally discovering the crash site reported that the plane had cut a swath through the hillside, snapping off trees, bending the aircraft's wings at a 90 degree angle and mangling it so severely that "no one could be alive."

The bodies of Snell (age 52), Cornett (49), and Farrell (41) were recovered on October 30, with darkness and rugged terrain having prevented their recovery the same day the crash was discovered.
One passenger had been ejected from a door that had come open in the crash with the other three bodies remaining strapped in the fuselage, according to a member of the U.S. Forest Service party which made its way to the scene.
A search and rescue operation was immediately launched, with 14 planes from the area launched the next morning to begin systematically searching for the missing aircraft and any sign of survivors. Officials held out hope that the small plane had been able to land in a small, flat area and that its limited radio range was being blocked by the rugged terrain in the region.
Commander of the Oregon National Guard Gen. Raymond F. Olson authorized the 123rd National Guard Air Squadron to assist in the search and rescue operation, as needed, with at least 4 planes immediately dispatched from their base in Portland.
The search was targeted to the vicinity of Dog Lake in Lake County due to a telephone tip from a cattle ranch employee camped in the vicinity, who reported having heard the faltering engine of a small plane shortly after 10:00 pm the previous evening. This lead searchers based out of Lakeview Airport to search the vicinity of Dog Lake, where they discovered the plane's crash site about 2 miles west of the lake at 4:00 pm on October 29. The nearest town to the site of the crash was the hamlet of Bly, located 22 miles north of the nearly inaccessible, heavily forested place of impact.
The crash had occurred in a mountainous region at about 6,000 feet elevation, with the hillsides heavily timbered in mature Ponderosa pine. Those originally discovering the crash site reported that the plane had cut a swath through the hillside, snapping off trees, bending the aircraft's wings at a 90 degree angle and mangling it so severely that "no one could be alive."
The bodies of Snell (age 52), Cornett (49), and Farrell (41) were recovered on October 30, with darkness and rugged terrain having prevented their recovery the same day the crash was discovered. One passenger had been ejected from a door that had come open in the crash with the other three bodies remaining strapped in the fuselage, according to a member of the U.S. Forest Service party which made its way to the scene.
1947 Oregon Beechcraft Bonanza crash