Friends Help Search For Missing Pilot Thousands Of Miles Away With Satellite Technology

Eight years ago, his passion landed him in the mission fields of Venezuela.

That's where Norton flies sick and injured natives to and from medical facilities.

"He's always looking out for other people, that's just who he is". Bob Edwards, the pilot's friend of 15 years, says Norton is the one who needs help now.

On a routine flight, two weeks ago, Norton's plane crashed into the dense Venezuelan jungle.

On board were Norton's wife, two sick children and their mothers.

"We wanted to take action but it didn't make sense for us to go down there, we don't know the language or the lay of the land, we don't have any resources down there," Edwards told News 12.

So Edwards and a group of six other friends from across the country decided to use a technique not unlike one used to search for missing billionaire Steve Fossett.

It's called Satellite imaging.

Without even leaving the states, the group used Skype, a program which allows people to make phone calls over the Internet, to coordinate their search with Venezuelan locals already looking for the downed plane.

They have narrowed down a 16 mile long and one mile wide area.

And, for a price, a company called Geoeye said it would print off satellite images of the selected spot.

"With this [satellite imagery], it's high resolution...something a half meter long we should detect...if you're flying over that...you can literally fly over someone waving at you and miss them because you're eyes can only focus so fast," Edwards explained.

Edwards says it's amazing to see all the technologies work together and he is optimistic about finding Norton and the others.

"If we find them and they're alive we're dancing in the streets, if we find him and he didn't survive, there's closure," Edwards added.