Missing Passengers Identified: Plane Disappears Over Lake Erie During Rough Weather

Eric Chaney
Published: December 30,2016
 The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search late Friday for the plane that vanished in rough weather over Lake Erie overnight Thursday.
The Coast Guard stepped aside to allow Cleveland to begin recovery efforts of the plane and the six missing individuals that were onboard, according to the Associated Press.
The parents of Superior Beverage Company executive John T. Fleming confirmed to multiple media outlets that he was the pilot of the Columbus-bound plane carrying three children and three adults when it vanished from radar late Thursday about 2 miles over Lake Erie.
Fleming's father told the Toledo Blade newspaper that the other five people on the plane were Fleming's wife, two teenage sons, a neighbor and the neighbor's daughter. John W. Fleming also described his son as "an experienced pilot."
Airport officials told Fox 8 Cleveland that it's believed the group had just attended the Cavaliers game before taking off at around 10:50 p.m.

A search plane flies over Lake Erie, Friday, Dec. 30, 2016, in Cleveland. A U.S. Coast Guard official said crews are in search-and-rescue mode, not recovery mode, as they look for a plane carrying six people that disappeared overnight shortly after takeoff from a Cleveland airport along Lake Erie's shore.
( AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

The Columbus-bound Cessna Citation 525 departed Burke Lakefront Airport and disappeared from radar about 2 miles over the lake, the Associated Press reports. Tracking service FlightAware logged only three location pings for the plane after takeoff and the last one indicated rapid altitude loss. Authorities have said there were no distress signals from the pilot.
Why the plane disappeared remains unclear, but weather conditions may have played a role.
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"There was some light snow in the area along with wind gusts between 30-40mph," said weather.com meteorologist Linda Lam. "So it is very possible that weather could've been a factor."
A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter and a Canadian aircrew in a plane were being used in the search, the AP reports. The waters in the searched area are about 50 feet deep, the Coast Guard said.
Authorities have detected faint hints but no strong pulse from an emergency locating transmitter, a beacon that could help find the plane, Capt. Michael Mullen, chief of response for the Coast Guard 9th District, told the Associated Press. Searchers have found no sign of debris.
"The decision to suspend a search is never easy," Mullen said in a statement via the Associated Press. "I extend my deepest condolences to the family and friends of those who lost loved ones during this tragedy."

A plane like this one went missing over the Lake Eerie Thursday night with six people on board.
(Peter Bakema/Wikimedia Commons)

Bad weather prevented a boat search overnight, a Coast Guard petty officer told WKYC, saying 10 to 12-foot seas and 25 to 35-foot waves made search efforts difficult and winds were impeding visibility for searchers overnight.  

When asked about the possibility of the twin-engine jet landing safely on Lake Erie, Mullen said, "Aircraft are not designed to float, especially in 12-foot seas."

 

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