Coast Guard in North Carolina searches for downed plane with 8 aboard

Morehead City, N.C.: The Coast Guard and local fire department crews are searching off the coast of North Carolina for a downed aircraft with eight people aboard, officials said Monday.

Watchstanders received a report of a possible downed aircraft about 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) east of Drum Inlet from a Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point air traffic controller on Sunday evening, the Coast Guard said.

The air traffic controller reported that the aircraft was behaving erratically on radar, then disappeared from the radar screen.

A total of eight people were aboard the Pilatus PC-12 single-engine passenger aircraft, the Coast Guard said in a news release on Monday.

Boat crews launched from Coast Guard Station Fort Macon and Coast Guard Station Hatteras Inlet and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew from Air Station Elizabeth City were searching the area. Local fire and sheriff’s department and National Park Service beach crews also responded.

Searchers have found a debris field in the area, Coast Guard spokesperson Petty Officer Edward Wargo said. (AP)