[steevyjeors]

US searches for plane that tracked Chinese

Source: Agencies | 2012-4-5

THE US Coast Guard and a mega-yacht owned by billionaire Paul Allen are searching the Pacific for an American pilot and two Republic of Palau police officers whose plane disappeared as they tried to track down a Chinese vessel that was allegedly fishing illegally.

The search follows a deadly confrontation between Palau officers and a smaller Chinese boat that was part of the same fishing operation. One fisherman was killed on Saturday after police fired on the fishing vessel as it tried to ram the officers' boat, Fermin Meriang, a spokesman for Palau's president, told the Pacific Daily News.

Meriang said officers had aimed for the ship's engines.

"One of the bullets must have ricocheted off the engine and struck him in the thigh," he said, adding the fisherman bled to death before he could be taken to a hospital.

The missing men were aboard a Cessna that was sent to track a larger Chinese fishing boat. The US Coast Guard has been searching for the three since the pilot reported on Sunday they were running low on fuel and having navigational problems.

Joining in the search, which spans more than 6,500 square nautical miles, is the 'Octopus,' a 126-meter yacht owned by Allen. The Microsoft co-founder visited Guam, some 1,300 kilometers from Palau, about a week ago, and the Coast Guard asked for the yacht's assistance because it was in the area.

"The captain of Octopus has been in constant contact with Coast Guard officials through days of searching," said David Postman, spokesman for Allen's investment company, Vulcan.

The boat the plane had been looking for was found. About 20 Chinese fishermen from that vessel, and five from the smaller ship where the shooting occurred, have been charged with illegal fishing and other counts, court records show.

The plane was believed to have gone down near the republic's southernmost island of Peleliu, said Lieutenant Richard Russell, enforcement officer for Sector Guam. But since the plane's navigational equipment was failing, the pilot wasn't able to give an accurate report.

"Right now we're hoping we can find some kind of debris or clue about where this plane may have gone down," Russell said. "We're really digging into this as deeply as we can."