Recovery of missing plane with 6 aboard to start Sunday
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Recovery efforts are expected to begin Sunday for a small plane carrying six people that disappeared over Lake Erie near Cleveland’s shores.
Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson expressed condolences to those who lost loved ones, as the city took over from the U.S. Coast Guard on Saturday after an extensive search effort ended in disappointment and became a recovery operation.
A dive team was called in to begin the preparations, but by afternoon, officials said weather and water conditions would not allow for the operation to get started until the next morning.
John T. Fleming, chief executive of a Columbus-based beverage distribution company, was piloting the plane. His wife, Suzanne, their two teenage sons, Andrew and John — who goes by “Jack” — and two neighbours whose names have not yet been released were aboard.