Coast Guard suspends search for passengers of downed aircraft near Drum Inlet, N.C.
The Coast Guard has suspended the search for the passengers of a downed aircraft approximately 4 miles east of Drum Inlet as of Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 15.
“The Coast Guard will continue to work alongside our local partners through ongoing recovery operations. Our deepest sympathies are with the Down East community,” said Capt. Matt Baer, sector commander, Sector North Carolina. “We are grateful for the outstanding collaboration we have had with our state and local partners, as well as numerous volunteers.”
A total of 8 people were aboard the Pilatus PC-12 single-engine passenger aircraft, and the Coast Guard and local authorities searched 2,014 square miles over a period of 48 hours.
The Carteret County Sheriff’s Office released the names of the passengers who were aboard the plane on Tuesday, which included four teenagers from the Down East community.
Watchstanders at the Coast Guard Sector North Carolina command center received a report at 2:13 p.m. Sunday, of a possible downed aircraft from an air traffic controller at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, stating that the aircraft was seen behaving erratically on radar and then disappeared from the radar screen.
Involved in the search were:
- Coast Guard Cutter Rollin Fritch
- Coast Guard Cutter Richard Snyder
- Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft
- Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk
- Coast Guard Station Fort Macon Motor Lifeboat
- Coast Guard Station Hatteras Inlet Response Boat-Small
- National Park Service beach crews
- Towboat U.S.
- Carteret County Sheriff’s Office
- Carteret County Emergency Services
- Down East Fire Department
- Morehead City Fire Department
- Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point units
The Coast Guard Cutter Richard Snyder will assist local law enforcement with recovery efforts. The National Transportation Safety Board will be conducting an investigation to determine the cause of the incident.
Hyde County Schools have announced they will honor the memory of the victims of the crash during school on Thursday and Friday, stating that “All of our schools, Mattamuskeet Elementary School, Mattamuskeet Early College High School, and Ocracoke School, will be showing support to East Carteret High School for their loss (as other schools have already planned) by wearing Mariner’s colors, Blue and Yellow this Thursday (Feb 17th) and wearing Cammo on Friday (Feb 18th).”
