The U.S. Coast Guard, Big Island Fire Department, Civil Air Patrol and Good Samaritans are searching today for a missing pilot who was last seen Friday flying a glider plane near the peaks of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island.

Friends and witnesses said that Dave Bigelo was piloting his glider plane near Mauna Kea in an effort to set a high altitude record and was scheduled to land at Waimea-Kohala Airport after the flight yesterday afternoon.

The glider was airborne mid-morning, but Bigelo has not been heard from since approximately 2 p.m. Friday.

At first light today, a C-130 search plane crew from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point was launched and arrived on scene near Mauna Kea at 7:45 a.m.

The Coast Guard is concentrating search efforts in the areas of the intended flight path and areas around the plane's last reported position — near the two peaks of the Big Island.

No sign of Bigelo or his missing glider has been reported. The Coast Guard urges anyone with information to call its Honolulu Joint Rescue Coordination Center at 808-535-3333.