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Search In Gulf Continues For Pair On Missing Plane

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By JOSH POLTILOVE

jpoltilove@tampatrib.com

Published: December 2, 2008

An 87-foot Coast Guard cutter planned to search all night Monday for a 35-year-old Harbour Island man and a West Palm Beach resident whose plane apparently crashed Sunday into the Gulf of Mexico, authorities said.

Still missing late Monday were Darien Peckham, a nuclear medicine technologist who started his career at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Tampa, and Zachary Schlitt, 28, who works in West Palm Beach for Boos Development Group.

A helicopter and plane assisted in the search during the day and a search by air will most likely continue today, Coast Guard spokeswoman Tasha Tully said. A seat and a flight bag containing aviation headphones were found Monday within the Coast Guard's search grid.

Peckham and Schlitt were aboard a 44-year-old Beech 35 Debonair aircraft. The plane was en route from Tallahassee to Vandenberg Airport east of Tampa when it crashed over water about 6:45 p.m. Sunday, 20 miles southwest of Yankeetown in Levy County, according to the Coast Guard.

Peckham is involved in breast cancer awareness and enjoys formation flying, said friend John Cox.

"This is a guy that's really a shining star, an unbelievable human, a good guy." Cox said. "He's constantly giving of his time and money to good causes."

Schlitt's mother, Pandora, said she spoke with her son shortly before he departed Tallahassee, where he had attended the Florida-Florida State football game Saturday. She described her son as a "wonderful, happy young man, 28 years old with lots of friends."

Rob Boos, president and chief operating officer of Boos Development, said Schlitt is dedicated to work and family.

"He's a kid that I would describe as full of life, always having a smile on his face," Boos said. "He's very intelligent, personable, hardworking and very, very supportive of our company and our company mission."

Both Peckham and Schlitt were certified pilots, meaning either could have been flying the plane, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said.

When the plane disappeared off the radar, there were strong thunderstorms, 10- to 12-foot seas and 20- to 25-knot winds, according to the Coast Guard.

Zachary Schlitt last logged on to his MySpace page Sunday. His posted comment: "Zach is waiting for the rain to pass so we can fly the plane out of Tally!"

ZACHARY SCHLITT

Age: 28

Home: West Palm Beach

Career: A University of Florida graduate, Schlitt has worked in real estate acquisitions for Boos Development Group of Clearwater since February 2007. He moved to the West Palm Beach area after he was promoted to the company's Palm Beach Gardens office.

Flight experience: Pilot since October 1997

DARIEN PECKHAM

Age: 35

Home: Harbour Island

Career: A nuclear medicine technologist, Peckham was involved in early research of a technique for the mapping of breast cancer lymph nodes. He founded and operates Gamma Probe Consulting and has used his flying skills to travel to outlying hospitals that can't afford to implement the technology.

Flight experience: Pilot since May 2005

Editor Howard Altman and reporter Ray Reyes contributed to this report. Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at (813) 259-7691.

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