Search continues for missing plane, families

0

Cleveland officials say the search for a plane carrying six people that disappeared last week over Lake Erie will continue until the aircraft is found.

Officials said more debris that possibly came from the plane was found Tuesday on the shoreline. They have said many of more than 120 pieces of debris found are consistent with that type of aircraft and a bag from the plane was found.

Tuesday was the third consecutive day that weather conditions allowed searchers to look for the Columbus-bound Cessna 525 Citation that vanished shortly after takeoff Thursday night from Burke Lakefront Airport.

Officials say the search area covers about 12 square miles.

A business executive was piloting the plane carrying his wife, two sons and two neighbors, including a University of Wisconsin-Madison student.

The Fleming and Casey families live in the Powell area and the students attended Olentangy Liberty schools.

Fleming’s father has said the family and friends were attending a Cleveland Cavaliers basketball game.

Jack Fleming is a freshman at Olentangy Liberty High School. Andrew Fleming, also in the district, is an eighth grader at the Ohio School for the Blind, said Mark Raiff, superintendent of the Olentangy Local School District.

Grief counselors were on call when classes resumed in the district on Wednesday.

The Coast Guard began searching the air after being notified soon after the plane’s disappearance. High waves and blustery conditions prevented smaller Coast Guard boats from the Cleveland area from initially deploying Thursday night.

A 140-foot Coast Guard cutter joined a search that covered 128 square miles of the lake on Friday.

Staff and wire reports

No posts to display