Robert Kenneth Alexander, Jr., 65, of Fox Island, Washington, was last seen on January 26, 2015, before flying his amateur-built experimental RV7, registration N747BA, from Tacoma Narrows Airport on a personal local flight. The flight was conducted under visual meteorological conditions and no flight plan was filed. Radar showed the aircraft climbing to about 7,000 feet before the last recorded target roughly a mile from where debris was later located.

Around 12:50 p.m. dispatchers received reports of a small plane in distress over Hood Canal near Seabeck; an eyewitness described the airplane spinning with a whirlybird type of motion before it descended below the tree line. Some debris and Alexander’s wallet were recovered from water estimated 500 to 600 feet deep, but the main wreckage and Alexander’s body were never found. The NTSB presumes the sole occupant was fatally injured but listed the probable cause as Not determined because the aircraft wreckage could not be examined.

Anyone who saw the plane that day or has information about the flight path is asked to come forward.