Search resumes today in Lake Erie for missing plane, 6 likely victims

Staff report

CLEVELAND

Search and recovery efforts for the Cessna 525 Citation that went missing Thursday evening after taking off from Burke Lakefront Airport are resuming today. Six people, including two 1989 graduates of Boardman High School, were aboard the plane when it went missing.

The weather conditions are favorable for search, with fairly calm waters and light winds. The search is taking place in 35- to 45-foot water levels in a grid that is approximately 2.5 miles from east to west (shoreline) and 2 miles north to south (shore out into the lake).

There will be seven vessels in the water that have four dive teams. New York State Police, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Akron Fire, Toledo Fire and the Cleveland Metroparks Rangers have joined search efforts. Searches will be by water, air and shoreline.

Crews from the Cleveland Division of Fire, the United States Coast Guard, Underwater Marine Contractors, and the Cleveland Division of Police are continuing to work on the search and recovery operations.

During the course of search and recovery operations Unified Command received multiple reports of debris washing ashore east of Burke Lakefront Airport. The Cleveland Division of Police is leading the investigation and is following up on all reports of debris. Anyone who sees debris should call the non-emergency number of the Cleveland Division of Police at 216-621-1234 or Burke Lakefront Airport at 216-781-6411.

“We want to remind everyone that this is an active investigation,” said Calvin Williams, Chief of Police. “If you see something that could be debris from the plane, we are asking people to avoid touching it, and to call the Division of Police immediately.”

The Cleveland Division of Police did confirm that the bag recovered yesterday in the vicinity of the Shoreby Club Harbor in Bratenahl was from the aircraft. Other debris has been collected, but has not yet been verified as being part of the Cessna 525 Citation.

The Cleveland Division of Police helicopter will be in the air. Boats came from the Cleveland Division of Fire, the U. S. Coast Guard, and Underwater Marine Contractors, New York State Police and Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Sonar technology will be used in the grid based search near the last known location of the aircraft and boats will conduct shoreline searches.

John T. Fleming, chief executive of a Columbus-based beverage distribution company and a former Boardman resident, was piloting the plane. His wife, Suzanne, also formerly of Boardman, plus their two teenage sons, Jack and Andrew, and two neighbors were also aboard.