Plane crashes in Drum Inlet, North Carolina, sparking Coast Guard search for downed aircraft in Outer Banks

A SMALL plane crashed off the coast of the Outer Banks in North Carolina on Sunday.

A search for the plane four miles east of Drum Inlet and any possible victims was underway, according to a US Coast Guard Fifth District spokesman. 

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An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew from Air Station Elizabeth City and two boat crews joined multiple local emergency crews to help with the search.

The Coast Guard Station Fort Macon Motor Lifeboat crew and Coast Guard Station Hatteras Inlet Response Boat-Small crews were looking from the water.

Officials say the Coast Guard Sector North Carolina Command Center got a report of a possible downed aircraft from an air traffic controller at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point.

The aircraft had been behaving erratically, according to the report before it disappeared from the radar screen.

The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that a single-engine Pilatus PC-12/47 crashed into the water 18 miles northeast of Michael J Smith Field around 2pm.

It’s unknown how many people were aboard the aircraft, but an investigation is still ongoing. 

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