PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard has suspended its search for two missing persons involved in a Cessna airplane crash 13 miles southeast of Bogue Inlet, North Carolina.
Coast Guard Sector North Carolina watchstanders were initially notified of the incident by Air Traffic Control Cherry Point that an aircraft reportedly dropped from their radar.
Watchstanders at Sector North Carolina dispatched MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and C-130 Hercules airplane aircrews from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boatcrew from Coast Guard Station Emerald Isle, and the crew of Coast Guard Cutter Nathan Bruckenthal to respond. Coast Guard personnel searched a combined total of 676.3 square miles over air, sea, and land.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will be investigating the cause of the incident. The Coast Guard has suspended its search, pending the development of new information.