Small Plane with Five People On Board Disappears Off the Coast of South Carolina

A small plane en route to the Bahamas went missing about 110 miles of the coast of South Carolina late Thursday morning, according to a press release from the United States Coast Guard.

The twin-engine aircraft, a Piper PA-31, was about 110 miles east of the coastline over the Atlantic Ocean when it lost contact on radar. The emergency was reported at 11:33 a.m. on Oct. 25.

The plane took off from Robert F. Swinnie Airport in Andrews, South Carolina, an hour south of Myrtle Beach, and was headed for Governor’s Harbor Airport. However, flight records also show the plane started to head back toward Charleston about 30 minutes after taking off, around 11:18 a.m. It’s unclear what prompted the diversion.

According to the Aviation Safety Network, owned by the Flight Safety Foundation, the plane belonged to Bulldog Flying Club, Inc. and had five people on board.

The Coast Guard started a search mission on Thursday afternoon, which continued through the night and into Friday morning. As of Friday at noon, about 2,600 square miles had been covered and nothing had turned up.

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The Federal Aviation Administration will not disclose who was on the plane until it’s been recovered, according to Fox Carolinas.

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