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Plane down in Gulf; 5 reported missing

Courtesy flightaware.com

The FAA says that this plane, with the 'N number' N4467D is the one that they say crashed in the Gulf of Mexico around 3 p.m.

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TBO.com

Published: July 8, 2009

Updated: 07/08/2009 09:46 pm

Only about 20 miles from land after a 900-mile trip, a twin-engine plane heading to Tampa with five people aboard apparently crashed into the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday afternoon.

The U.S. Coast Guard reported its search boats and helicopters had spotted a large debris field about 20 miles west of Port Richey on Wednesday evening.

The aircraft, which left Texas on Wednesday morning, is registered to Q4 Aviation LLC in Carrollton, Texas.

Jim Hester, a manager at Quality Powder Coating LP in Carrollton, tearfully confirmed that someone owning the plane at that address was heading to Tampa.

He would not comment on who was aboard, saying he first had to talk to the Coast Guard.

The Federal Aviation Administration's Jacksonville Air Route Traffic Control Center reported losing radar and radio contact with the aircraft at 1:52 p.m., when the plane was about 45 miles northwest of Tampa, FAA spokesman Jim Peters in New York said.

"The report was that the aircraft may have run into turbulence," Peters said.

Peters said the FAA immediately notified the Coast Guard and provided the aircraft's last known location.

"Based on the fact that we got the report of turbulence and lost radio and radar contact, we made the presumption that the plane went into Gulf of Mexico," Peters said.

Peters said the plane had been flying at about 5,000 feet.

The FAA would not confirm how many people were on the aircraft, although Coast Guard officials did say they were searching for five people.

The Coast Guard says the aircraft left Collin County Regional Airport in McKinney, Texas, about 10 a.m. Wednesday and was bound for Tampa International Airport.

Conditions Wednesday evening in the search area were 23-knot winds and five-foot seas, with a water temperature of 84 degrees.

Anthony Reynes, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Ruskin, said there was a line of showers and thunderstorms in the Gulf at the time the plane dropped off the radar.

This is the second aircraft accident in the past week with ties to the Bay area. On Sunday, a plane crash in Virginia claimed the life of prominent Tampa businessman Daniel Dorsch and his wife, Cynthia. Also killed was Cynthia Dorsch's dance instructor, Stepan Matkovski, and Jenny Brown, who served as marketing director of several businesses owned by Daniel Dorsch.

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