Pilots, friends, family search for missing man

WOLF LAKE — Alaska’s tight-knit aviation community is rallying to search for a local pilot last seen Saturday in Soldotna.

“Some people don’t even know Brendan and they’ve come down here to volunteer and fly,” said Ryan Mattingley, brother of missing pilot Brendan Mattingley. “It means a lot to me. … It’s just really fantastic to see the community come together like this to bring my brother home.”

Brendan Mattingley kept his plane at the airport on Wolf Lake. A Facebook page dedicated to the search for him and his plane describes him as a father and an outdoorsman.

Alaska State Troopers report Brendan Mattingley was reported missing at 9:40 a.m., Sunday. He’d last been seen in the wee hours of Saturday morning.

Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Beth Ipsen wrote in an email that he “was last seen by a friend just after midnight and was described as highly intoxicated. The friend put Mattingley in a taxi, which took him to the Soldotna Airport and dropped him off at his airplane.”

Ryan Mattingley said he’s sure his brother took the time to get his head straight before flying.

“He’s extremely frugal with his money. With as much money that he has in this airplane he wouldn’t even fly at night, let alone let alone fly drunk,” he said.

He said he’s certain Brendan Mattingley slept the night in his plane.

“That’s what his plan was. Like I say, he’s frugal, so instead of going and hanging out in a hotel …” Ryan Mattingley said.

He said his brother had been flying for two years and mostly used his plane — a green-on-bottom-white-on-top Super Cub with a red tail — for camping and hunting trips. The search effort has grown since the weekend to include Civil Air Patrol units in Soldotna, Kenai and multiple groups in the Anchorage area.

There’s also a significant contingent of private pilots unaffiliated with CAP that just want to help.

“Today alone we have 20 private pilots in the air,” Ryan Mattingley said of the ongoing search effort. “We’ve kind of established a command center route here at Wolf Lake.”

Wal-Mart has donated food to the effort. Friends have dropped off full meals to feed hungry pilots and searchers, and the family has been able to provide fuel for the searchers.

“If they’re a pilot and they want to fly we’re providing gasoline so they can stay up in the air,” he said.

To help pay for the gas, Loco Beanz in Palmer is donating all of its proceeds to the search. Other folks are donating money to the Brendan Mattingley Fund at Matanuska Valley Federal Credit Union or online via Paypal to ashleym@mtaonline.net.

Anyone with tips can call troopers at 352-5401. Pilots who want to help search can call Eric at 841-1206 or Lauren at 953-3392.

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.