Plane carrying six disappears over Lake Erie

A plane carrying six people disappeared over Lake Eerie shortly after takeoff Thursday night, The Associated Press reported Friday, and crews are actively searching for those on board.

After departing a small airport in Cleveland, the aircraft vanished from radar about 2 miles over the lake. It’s still unclear why the Columbus-bound plane went missing, though weather conditions may have played a role. 

Crews remain hopeful and are still in search-and-rescue mode to find the three adults and three children who were aboard the plane. An emergency locating transmitter is giving “faint hints” but no strong pulse for authorities to track.

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“We’re very hopeful. We will be very hopeful up until the point that we have to turn the search off and we switch over to assisting with recovery,” said Capt. Michael Mullen, the chief of response for the Ninth Coast Guard District, according to the AP.

Searchers have found no sign of debris. Weather, higher seas and darkness made nighttime searching difficult, the AP report noted.