YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) - Clear skies are helping authorities search for a small plane that disappeared from radar over the backcountry of Yosemite National Park.

Park spokeswoman Kari Cobb said the search began anew Wednesday with a helicopter from the California Highway Patrol and two fixed-wing planes piloted by the Civil Air Patrol.

The search area is off Tioga Pass between 8,000 to 10,000 feet. Snow had made the area inaccessible by vehicle and foot and hampered the search effort.

The pilot - the only person reportedly on board the single-engine Mooney M20- left Monday from Santa Ynez. The Federal Aviation Administration says his wife reported him missing when he failed to arrive in Mammoth Lakes on schedule.

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