CARTERET COUNTY, N.C. — Officials in North Carolina said one body has been found and seven people are still missing after a small plane crashed off the Outer Banks on Sunday.
“We have no indication anybody survived the crash,” Carteret County Sheriff Asa Buck said in a news conference on Monday.
The Carteret County Sheriff’s Office said four teens were on the plane that crashed. Deputies have released the names of all eight people, including the pilot and his son.
- Ernest Durwood Rawls, 67, Greenville – Pilot
- Jeffrey Worthington Rawls, 28, Greenville, NC
- Stephanie Ann McInnis Fulcher, 42, Sea Level, NC
- Jonathan Kole McInnis, 15, Sea Level, NC
- Douglas Hunter Parks, 45, Sea Level, NC
- Noah Lee Styron, 15, Cedar Island, NC
- Michael Daily Shepard, 15, Atlantic, NC
- Jacob Nolan Taylor, 16, Atlantic, NC
The sheriff's office said, "We would like to extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to the families in these extremely difficult times."
According to CBS 17, crews said they've found some more bodies of these passengers but they didn't say how many they've found. Dive teams went as far as 55 feet deep to find more bodies Tuesday afternoon.
Search crews said they've found parts of the cabin including the body. U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Matthew J. Baer told reporters that multiple vessels from various agencies are continuing the search. He described the search as an “all-hands-on-deck event.”
Coast Guard officials said the Pilatus PC-12/47 single-engine passenger plane was carrying eight people when it crashed about four miles east of Drum Inlet, not far south from the Carteret County town of Atlantic and east of Atlantic Beach, around 2 p.m. Sunday. Watchstanders said they got a report of a possible downed aircraft from an air traffic controller at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. They said the plane was seen behaving erratically on radar before it disappeared from the screen.
Monday morning, officials said the debris field where the plane was believed to have crashed was found. Buck said crews were searching three debris fields.
The Carteret County Schools System said Monday it is making crisis management counselors available to students following the plane crash.
"We are incredibly saddened and join with the Down East and Eastern North Carolina community as we await official word on the airplane crash off the coast of Drum Inlet, North Carolina. Crisis teams are on school campuses to support students, staff, and families," the school system said in a release.
Bailey Evans has issued the following statement on behalf of the Parks family and Green Assets regarding the recent North Carolina plane crash:
“We can confirm that Hunter Parks was among the passengers of the flight that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday afternoon. We are grateful for the many men and women – authorities and volunteers – who remain active in the recovery operation and investigation. We sincerely appreciate the outpouring of love, prayers, and concern expressed over the incident.”