ANCHORAGE Alaska (UPI) -- Searchers combed the rugged mountain wilderness along the Gulf of Alaska today for a twin-engine plane which disappeared in a rainstorm late Monday. Democratic House Majority Leader Hale Boggs, 58, of Louisiana, Rep. Nick Begich, Alaska's lone congressman, his aide, Russ Brown, and Don Jonz an experienced Alaska pilot, were aboard the plane which was en route from Anchorage to Juneau. The Cessna 310 took off at 9:12 am ADT (1:12 pm CDT). The Air Force at Elmendorf Air Force Base took immediate charge of the search. The last radio contact with the plane was shortly after it took off from Anchorage.
An electronically equipped Air Force 0130 flew over the area throughout the night, listening for signals from the lost aircraft's emergency transmitter.
Weather in the search area was "very marginal," an Air Force spokesman said, with low clouds and poor visibility.
The Democratic House Majority Leader was in Alaska on a political fund-raising tour.
The pilot's flight plan for the nonstop flight from Anchorage to Juneau followed the rugged Alaska coast, lined with mountains about 5,000 to 7,000 feet high.
The NTSB spokesman said, "Some have suggested because it was a campaign trip they may have stopped along the way but we have no reason to believe that and really don't."
In Washington, the Federal Aviation Administration said the Cessna 310's fuel would have been used up by 7 p.m. CDT.
After the FAA at Juneau reported the plane was overdue, an air search was launched from Elmenndorf Air Force Base.
The FAA said the plane had been operating on visual flight rules.
It was unable to say when radio contact was last made with the plane.
Boggs had been in Alaska campaigning for Begich. The FAA said the plane, operated by Pan-Alaskan Airways, carried a crash locator beacon. Two civilian planes, two from the Coast Guard and one from the Military Airlift Command joined the search.
Boggs 58 was first elected to Congress in 1940 at the age of 27. He was defeated two years later and served with the Navy until 1946 when he won re-election to the House.
He was an ally of the late House Speaker Sam Rayburn, and on Rayburn's death became Democratic whip under Speaker John McCormack in 1962. He ascended to the No. 2 Democratic leadership position in 1970.
He has three children. One, Atty Thomas Hale Boggs Jr., made an unsuccessful race for Congress from Maryland's 8th District where the Boggs family lives.
Begich, 40, is Alaska's only member of the House. Serving his first term, he was a builder and manager of apartments in Anchorage before winning election to Congress.
