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Medical Transport Plane Crashes in Lake Michigan
6 people flew out of Milwaukee airport, no reports of survivors
Last Edited: Monday, 04 Jun 2007, 9:22 PM EDT
Created: Monday, 04 Jun 2007, 9:22 PM EDT
A plane has crashed into Lake Michigan, on the shores of Milwaukee. By CARRIE ANTLFINGER
Associated Press Writer
MILWAUKEE (AP) – A medical transport plane carrying six members of the University of Michigan Survival Flight team back to Michigan went down Monday afternoon in Lake Michigan shortly after the pilot signaled an emergency, authorities said. There was no word on survivors.
As many as a dozen divers were searching water that was 60 feet deep, and five to 10 more divers were standing by, Milwaukee Fire Chief Doug Holton said.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Tony Molinaro said the Cessna Citation took off from General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee at 4 p.m. and was headed for Willow Run Airport near Detroit, a 42-minute flight.
“Within five minutes of its departure from the airport the pilot declared an emergency and requested a return to Mitchell but at that time the plane was no longer on our radar screens, so we’ve contacted the Coast Guard to begin a search and rescue mission,” Molinaro said.
The six people aboard included two crew members, he said.
Molinaro said they found aircraft debris about six miles northeast of Milwaukee, but have not found any of the passengers.
The plane was leased by the University of Michigan Survival Flight air ambulance program, the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor said in a statement.
Six members of the University of Michigan Survival Flight team were two members of the staff of Marlin Air, which flies all Survival Flight airplane missions, and four University of Michigan employees, the health system said.
Jay Campbell, executive director of the Wisconsin Donor Network, said a transplant team from the University of Michigan was in Milwaukee Monday to harvest an organ. He declined to say which area hospital they were working with, citing privacy regulations.
At around 4 p.m. light rain was falling at the airport with winds at 12 mph, gusting to 22 mph, according to J.J. Wood, meteorologist the National Weather Service.
Jerry Guyer, a salvage and diving guide, used his high-definition sonar unit to help in the search. He said the unit is towed in back of his boat by a 50-foot cable and can detect objects within 100 feet of it.
“I used to look for shipwrecks and it works very well for anything on the bottom, from a car tire up as far as being able to pinpoint an item and location,” he said.
Milwaukee airport spokeswoman Pat Rowe said the airport was closed for about 20 minutes after they didn’t hear back from the plane in case it returned.
Bob Bruner of Mequon was a passenger on a Northwest Airlines flight landing in Milwaukee around the time of the crash.
“They diverted us and they told us there was an emergency (at the airport),” Bruner of Mequon told WISN-TV in Milwaukee.
Bruner said that the pilots onboard their flight told passengers that the runways needed to be clear, and they circled the airport several times before landing.
Associated Press Writer David Aguilar in Detroit and M.L. Johnson in Milwaukee contributed to this report.
I made a phone call and my friend asked if the Branson Mod, that allowed full fuel and 5 people.
Go figure.
LOL