CARTERET COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) – The Coast Guard said that a debris field has been located during search efforts for a plane that’s believed to have crashed.
Officials told WITN the debris field was found last night but lost due to weather conditions. The Coast Guard said the rediscovered Monday morning.
The Coast Guard continues to say that 8 people were on board the plane that disappeared from a radar screen off the coast Sunday.
The crash happened about four miles east of Drum Inlet, which is 18 miles northeast of Michael J. Smith Field in Beaufort.
According to officials, Coast Guard Sector North Carolina Command Center watch standers got a report of a possible downed aircraft from an air traffic controller at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point around 2 p.m.
The report said the aircraft was seen behaving erratically on radar before disappearing from the radar screen.
A Coast Guard Station Fort Macon Motor Lifeboat crew along with a Coast Guard Station Hatteras Inlet Response Boat-Small boat crew are looking from the water. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew from Air Station Elizabeth City is also assisting. Five other agencies are also involved in the search.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration the aircraft involved is a small, private, PC-12/27 plane.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.
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