At least one person is dead and seven are missing following the crash of a Pilatus PC-12 off the coast of Beaufort, North Carolina, on Sunday. The aircraft went down at around 2 p.m. local time approximately 4 miles east of Drum Inlet. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the aircraft was “seen behaving erratically on radar and then disappeared from the radar screen.” No emergency communications were received.
“A Coast Guard Station Fort Macon Motor Lifeboat crew was launched along with a Coast Guard Station Hatteras Inlet Response Boat-Small boat crew,” the Coast Guard said in a statement on Monday. “An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew from Air Station Elizabeth City was also launched to search the area.”
Personnel from the Coast Guard, National Park Service, Carteret County Sheriff’s Office and Down East Fire Department participated in search and rescue efforts, which were suspended on Tuesday afternoon. A debris field was located in the search area and officials have stated that they do not believe there were any survivors. The NTSB is investigating the accident.
According to a statement from the Carteret County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday, the aircraft was returning to Beaufort from a hunting trip in Hyde County. The people on board have been identified as pilot Ernest Durwood Rawls, 67, Jeffrey Worthington Rawls, 28, Stephanie Ann McInnis Fulcher, 42, Jonathan Kole McInnis, 15, Douglas Hunter Parks, 45, Noah Lee Styron, 15, Michael Daily Shepard, 15, and Jacob Nolan Taylor, 16.
This article will be updated as more information becomes available.
