Divers to Search Lake Erie for Missing Plane and 6 Passengers

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iStock/Thinkstock(CLEVELAND) — The rescue mission to find a CEO, his family and friends after the plane they were on disappeared over Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio, Thursday night is now a recovery effort.

A team of local divers will search Lake Erie for the Cessna Citation 525 and the six passengers, Burke Lakefront Airport commissioner Khalid Bahhur said. They were originally set to begin Saturday afternoon, but because of weather and water conditions, the mayor’s office said the search was postponed to Sunday morning, according to ABC affiliate WEWS-TV.

The plane was headed to Ohio State University Airport in Columbus when it vanished after departing from Burke Lakefront Airport on Thursday night, the Coast Guard said Friday. WEWS-TV reports the plane went missing 2 miles north of downtown Cleveland after airport officials said the group of passengers attended a Cavaliers game.

As of Saturday afternoon, there was no trace of the plane or the six people on board.

Local officials are working with the National Transportation Safety Board to locate the plane after the Coast Guard suspended its search and rescue efforts on Friday night. Officials said once the aircraft was recovered, the NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration would investigate to determine what caused the plane to go missing.

“Our goal right now is to extract the aircraft from the water and bring it to closure,” Bahhur said Saturday.

Aboard the plane was John T. Fleming, the CEO of Columbus-based Superior Beverage Group, his wife Suzanne, his two teenage sons Jack and Andrew, and his two close friends. WEWS-TV reports the plane was registered to Fleming, a resident of Dublin, Ohio.

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