Authorities Searching For Missing Aircraft Off Ocean City Coast; Body Recovered
BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- Authorities have recovered a body after searching for people who were on a small plane that crashed off the coast of Ocean City Wednesday night.
Maryland State police say shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday, they were notified by federal authorities that the single-engine, four-passenger plane is believed to have left Martin State Airport at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday night en route to Ocean City.
Officials began looking for the aircraft late Thursday morning. Although the aircraft has not been spotted, Natural Resources Police officers in the water near the oil slick have recovered debris believed to be associated with an aircraft about a mile off the coast of Ocean City.
It isn't clear how many were on board, according to officials. The Coast Guard has identified the two of the missing as Benica Richards Robinson and Marcson Ngwa.
Police say the body was recovered just before 5 p.m. Thursday in a field of debris five miles from the initial oil slick in the Atlantic Ocean.
The body recovered was a man wearing the same clothing as described on the pilot who left Martins Airport Wednesday. The body will be transported to the medical examiner's office in Baltimore for autopsy.
Search efforts ended at just before 6 p.m. Thursday. Dive teams will continue searching for other passengers once the coming storm passes and the ocean conditions are stable.
This is a developing story.
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