suddenly, larry mayer spot add crashed plane right beneath him i. a little startled to be looking for an airplane and then see an airplane sitting there. brian saw it, too. >> my first reaction of seeing an airplane down below was, oh, my god, i found her. >> reporter: but, no. he hadn't. the wreckage was from a fatal crash larry covered for the paper years earlier, but -- >> it just adds more fuel to the fire that you're running out of -- number one, running out of time. it's getting dark. this is probably what i'm going to find some place up here. >> reporter: they fought to focus through the evening shadows. brian and his super cub equipped to fly low and slow skimmed the trees and rocky beach. >> you get into a place called black canyon, which is, you know, vertical cliff walls, and black timber down in the bottom of it that, you know, it's like finding a needle in a haystack in there. >> reporter: by 8:00 p.m., mckenzie was five hours over due. the rescue pilots were tired and running out of fuel and daylight. and then -- the authorities call.