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ARCO - A Civil Air Patrol search team found the body of glider pilot Thierry Thys at about 11:21 a.m. Friday. He apparently died on impact when his 1998 Stemme S10-VT crashed on the northeast face of the White Knob Mountain Range at an elevation of about 9,250 feet, according to Idaho Transportation Department reports.
Debris was spotted on the ground around 7:50 p.m. Thursday by one of four air patrol crews who had been searching in central Idaho by plane most of the day. The wreckage is about 23 miles north of Arco and six miles north of the state-owned Copper Basin Airport.
Thys, 78, of Oakland, Calif., was reported missing at about 10 p.m. Wednesday after leaving from the Arco airport. He was the owner and only occupant of the sophisticated, high-performance glider, officials said Friday.
Civil Air Patrol planes began searching a 250-square-mile area south of Mackay in the Antelope Valley of Central Idaho at about 8:15 a.m. Thursday.
Officials say Thys is a veteran pilot with extensive experience in a variety of aircraft, including experimental planes and helicopters.
Thys reportedly holds or held the distance record for glider planes, and more than a decade ago flew a helicopter that he purchased in Russia across Siberia to Alaska, according to ITD reports.
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