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Jul 9, 2009 12:29 pm US/Central
Coast Guard Ends Search For North Texas Plane
Coast Guard Discovers Two-Mile Debris Field
Compiled From Staff Reports
CARROLLTON (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
A plane left Collin County on Wednesday with five souls on board, and then disappeared over the Gulf of Mexico. The aircraft was en route to Tampa.
Late Wednesday night, the United States Coast Guard released a statement that said search crews had discovered a two-mile debris field within the search area. Then, Thursday morning, rescue workers found human remains on pieces of wreckage.
The debris is being sent to the National Transportation Safety Board for an investigation. Meanwhile, the remains are being sent to the local Medical Examiner's Office for identification purposes.
The missing twin-engine plane was owned by the Carrollton-based company Quality Powder Coating. Jacksonville air traffic control says it lost contact with the plane when it was about 20 miles off the coast.
A company spokesman who talked with CBS 11 News called the afternoon "horrible." Despite the uncertainty, there is optimism and hope that five employees of Quality Powder Coating are alive, and will be found by rescue crews searching the Gulf Coast.
Quality Powder Coating is a small family-owned business with 42 employees. A company official said the flight that left Wednesday morning, from Collin County Regional Airport, was on a routine business trip.
The five men on board included a company pilot Steve Barrows, the company owner Roland Schurrer and sales executives. "The folks on that aircraft were hard-working, industrious, intelligent, caring people," said company spokesman Andy Brown. "We're optimistic that the Coast Guard will find all of the passengers, and everything's going to be great."
The plane disappeared from radar about 45 miles outside of Tampa around 2 p.m. The Federal Aviation Administration and meteorologists report strong turbulence and some thunderstorms in the area at that time.
While the search goes on in the Gulf of Mexico for wreckage and survivors, the company's Carrollton employees continue to wait for updates and pray for good news.
"We don't have a lot of information. We were notified early this afternoon that the plane had gone missing," explained Brown. "And since that time we've been trying to collect data and get various information on any survivors and the details about the crash."
The Coast Guard has two Jayhawk helicopters, a 47-foot motor life boat and an 87-foot Coast Guard cutter searched the area. The search was called off Thursday afternoon following an extensive search.
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