Pilot Who Landed On Secured Beach Identified As Search Continues

The pilot who went missing after landing a plane on a secured Coast Guard beach in Cape May has been identified. Jimmy Dahlen Jr., 50, of Cape May, stole the plane Sunday night and landed it on a U.S. Coast Guard beach near Cape May just before 8 p.m. He has been missing ever since. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.

He stole the plane from his employer, Paramount Air Services, the company’s president Barbara Tomalino told Patch Tuesday morning. He is a licensed mechanic who has worked for the company for several years, and there was no indication that anything was wrong. Even during his shift on Sunday, another employee told her Dahlen seemed fine.

“I’m at a loss to explain this,” said Tomalino, who first learned that the plane was missing when she was contacted by police at about 11 p.m. Sunday night. “The whole thing is bizarre.”

Tomalino is Dahlen’s stepmother. She said his mother was the last to hear from him on Sunday night, but she hasn’t heard from him since he went missing. He also has a grown daughter and a sister who say they haven’t heard from him, either.

Paramount Air Service is an aerial advertising service established in 1945 that flies on beach fronts along Ocean City, Cape May, Wildwood, Stone Harbor, Avalon and Sea Isle City, according to its website. Dahlen is one of three mechanics on staff. He doesn’t have a criminal record and has never presented his company with issues in the past.

“We’re unsettled,” Tomalino said. “We’re back to business as usual, so that’s not a problem, but the whole thing is quite unsettling.”

The stolen plane has been identified as a Piper PA12 aircraft by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is investigating the case.

A video of the plane landing on the beach Sunday night is below. Read more here: Pilot Missing As Plane Lands On Coast Guard Beach Near Cape May

Image via YouTube