VENICE, Fla. – Coast Guard and Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office rescue crews have been searching for a downed, fixed-wing aircraft in the vicinity of Venice, Fla., since about 9:30 p.m. Monday.
The Coast Guard received a call from 911 at 9 p.m., Monday, stating that they’d received a report that an airplane had crashed into the Gulf of Mexico about 750-yards off the Venice Pier. It is reported that one person, the pilot, was aboard the aircraft.
A Coast Guard 41-foot rescue boat crew from Station Cortez, Fla., an HH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Fla., and a Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office helicopter crew all immediately launched to search for survivors. On-scene conditions are reported to include six- to eight-foot seas and 20-knot winds.
The plane is reported to be a 1977 four-seated, fixed-wing, single-engine Piper PA-28-161, and was reported to have been coming in for landing at the Venice Municipal Airport.
