Bad Weather Stalls Search For Missing Plan
Inclement weather in the Caribbean yesterday forced authorities to suspend the search for the missing plane that is presumed to have gone down Sunday morning near the Volcan Irazú.

Conrad Wesley Randell, 69 years of age and his 68 year old wife Nancy Randell, of Des Moines, Iowa, took off in their single-engine D35 Beech plane from Panama yesterday morning along with a group of 22 other planes from the "Fly Farmers" club. Officials say the group was headed to Nicaragua.

The plane was last spotted by radar about 19 miles wst of from San José.

Residents of the area told rescue workers that they had a heard a small plane flying over, followed by a loud explosion in the area.

The Cruz Roja (Red Cross) was called and they immeditelt began a search of the area, said Red Cross spokeswoman Noemy Coto.

She says authorities started looking for the craft after officials at the Irazu volcano national park, Rescue efforts had to be halted last night amid heavy rains.

The Randells lived in Cedar Falls from 1972 to 1984, where he was the president of Iowa Swine Exports. They have lived in Des Moines for the past 21 years, where Wes Randell is vice president and investment officer at Wachovia Securities in West Des Moines.

Their daughter Laurie Griffin is a Waterloo resident.

"At this time there are no plans for us to go to Costa Rica," Griffin said. "We're all sitting by the phone waiting for news."

According to family members, Wes was in radio contact with the Tobía Bolaños airport tower in Pavas, San José, on his approach from approximately 35 miles out when contact was lost.

A NASA search plane has also joined the efforts. The Randells' son, Conrad Randell II, was in Costa Rica at the time, flying in another airplane and is out with the search teams.

Family members said Wes Randell is an experienced pilot who equipped his 1952 Beechcraft Bonanza with state-of-the-art instruments and global positioning system devices. He has been flying since age 16 and is a very capable and knowledgeable pilot, they added.

The trip was organized by the Baja Bush Pilots, a Chandler, Ariz.-based group of recreational pilots that has sponsored the trip for more than 25 years. This was the first time the Randells had participated.