Pool 2 Plane Crash.

Head up! Searching the Grey Cloud Island area.

KSTP
Updated: September 14, 2020 10:04 AM
Created: September 13, 2020 09:00 PM

A search for a missing aircraft is continuing Monday, authorities have confirmed.

The search for the overdue aircraft is happening near Grey Cloud Island on the Mississippi River, near Cottage Grove and St. Paul Park.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office is leading the investigation and told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that the airplane was last seen on radar near Red Wing on Sunday.

At one point Sunday night, there was a heavy law enforcement presence and those searching were focusing on the area around Grey Cloud Island.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office reported receiving a call from Dakota County authorities, telling them a plane was missing from their area and asking them to help in the search.

Monday, the sheriff’s office said search teams believe the plane is in a water-filled quarry on Grey Cloud Island. While teams didn’t find the plane Sunday night, they did find debris leading them to believe they were in the right area.

Dive teams are searching the water, but the sheriff’s office called the conditions difficult, noting that the quarry walls are sand-based and the quarry is up to 200 feet deep.

A KSTP crew spoke with some goose hunters in the area who were asked to leave so those searching could launch their boats. The goose hunters said some friends of theirs living in the area said they heard a loud explosion, but it’s not yet known if that’s connected to the search.

According to the sheriff’s office, three people were on the plane when it left Fleming Field Municipal Airport in South St. Paul on Sunday afternoon.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration will lead the investigation once the plane is found.

This is a developing news story. KSTP is working to get more details on this story and will post updates as more information becomes available.

Update:

KSTP
Updated: September 14, 2020 01:40 PM
Created: September 13, 2020 09:00 PM

A plane that had been missing since Sunday night was found Monday, according to Washington County Sheriff Dan Starry.

Starry said crews are now working on a recovery mission for the plane and the three people who were on board.

According to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, a pilot and two passengers took off from Fleming Field Municipal Airport in South St. Paul Sunday afternoon, in a Cessna aircraft. The last contact before crashing in a water-filled quarry was when the plane popped up on radar in Red Wing (about 40 miles from the recovery site).

Monday, the sheriff’s office said search teams believed the plane was in a water-filled quarry on Grey Cloud Island. While teams didn’t find the plane Sunday night, they did find debris leading them to believe they were in the right area.

Dive teams searched the water, but the sheriff’s office called the conditions difficult, noting that the quarry walls are sand-based and the quarry is up to 200 feet deep.

Washington County Sheriff Dan Starry said debris was located more than 70 feet underwater shortly before 11 p.m. Sunday night.

As of Monday, Starry said the efforts were now a recovery operation, not a rescue.

At one point Sunday night, there was a heavy law enforcement presence and those searching were focusing on the area around Grey Cloud Island.

Originally, Dakota County emergency crews asked for assistance from Washington County in the search – following that, the Cottage Grove Police Department along with the Stillwater and south metro fire departments helped in the search.

A KSTP crew spoke with some goose hunters in the area who were asked to leave so those searching could launch their boats. The goose hunters said some friends of theirs living in the area said they heard a loud explosion, but it’s not yet known if that’s connected to the search.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration originally stated they would lead the investigation and that they expected to be at the scene for a couple days.

However, in an update Monday afternoon, the NTSB stated it would not be traveling to the scene “at this time.”

NTSB is investigating the September 13, 2020 crash in Cottage Grove, MN involving a Cessna 172I. The NTSB is not traveling to the scene of the crash at this time.
— NTSB_Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) September 14, 2020
Information on why the plane went down and whether there were any distress calls has not yet been released. Starry said that will likely come from the follow-up investigation.

Chopper 5 flew above the scene of the search efforts Monday morning.

This plane crash deal is kind of weird.. We live right near this and seen something we have never seen before Sunday night..

We got home around 6pm and was working in the yard. My daughter and wife seen a parachute but no plane. We could hear a very odd buzzing from a propeller but did not know if this was in connection to the chute. I thought it was a guy that had one of the propelled parachute when we heard it so I did not go look. I did not think much of it but my daughter and wife both said it was just a chute not one with a propelled cart attached. It sounded like it though and we heard the propelled craft fade away in the direction of GCI. She kept saying that night how weird it was that she saw a parachute. We have never seen someone parachute above us. Then we heard about this crash and her spider senses went off.

Last night they said there were 3 in the plane but only two were found??? This really has her going now

Yes there were reports of a parachute, but turned out to be a paraglider and were completely unrelated.

munchy wrote:

Yes there were reports of a parachute, but turned out to be a paraglider and were completely unrelated.

I just found out the same.. Funny. My wife was pretty concerned about it. haha.. She was doing some 007 investigation and I just killed her mojo. But good to know.