Coast Guard Suspends Search For Missing Plane Traveling From Reading To Cape Cod
ORLEANS, Mass. (CBS/AP) — The Coast Guard suspended its search for a small plane that took off from Berks County and was reported missing off the coast of Massachusetts. The search was suspended at 9:30 a.m. after several vessels and aircraft spent 55 hours covering more than 2,000 square miles (5,180 square kilometers) of ocean off Cape Cod without finding any sign of the missing pilot or plane, the Coast Guard said in a statement.
The Piper PA-28 that departed from Reading, Pennsylvania was reported missing at around 10 p.m. Sunday, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement Monday. It was headed to Chatham Municipal Airport in Massachusetts.
One person was on board the plane. The Coast Guard has not released a name.
The plane was reported overdue by a concerned friend of the pilot who was waiting for the aircraft in Chatham.
The aircraft's last transmitted transponder signal was at 6:49 p.m. descending at 4,000 feet (1,220 meters) per minute. Chatham airport manager Tim Howard told the Cape Cod Times a normal rate of descent is between 500 and 1,000 feet per minute.
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