Pilot’s friends hopeful

Two weeks after Bob Norton’s plane disappeared into a South American jungle his friends remain hopeful that the Adventist missionary pilot is safe and waiting for someone to find him.

“If there’s anyway they survived that landing and they could have he’ll keep them alive,” said Bob Edwards, of McMinnville, Tenn.

Mr. Norton, his wife Neiba, and the plane’s five other occupants were last heard from near the Gran Sabana area of Venezuela on the morning of Feb. 16, according to mission group officials.

“If he was not badly injured he could survive in the jungle for some time,” said Dr. Joe Rudd, an Ooltewah resident who flew with the Jackson County, Ala., pilot in Venezuela a few months before the disappearance.

Friends of Mr. Norton, including Dr. Rudd and Mr. Edwards, have ordered hi-resolution images of the 15-mile long area where the plane is believed to have crashed. The group hopes to spot a possible crash site on the images that could help the search parties in Venezuela.

Betsy Burgdorff, a spokeswoman for Gospel Ministries International, the group for whom Mr. Norton flies, said there were reports of bad weather in the area. She said the plane was on its way to an inspection and had stopped to pick up a few extra patients in Ciudad Bolivar.

“I think the best guess is the weather, but nobody knows for sure,” Ms. Burgdorff said.

Dr. Rudd acknowledged the danger involved with his friends work, but said Mr. Norton’s experience made him one of the best.

“There’s not a lot of people with 20 years of jungle pilot experience because most of them don’t last that long,” Dr. Rudd said.