Coast Guard: No survivors likely in transplant jet crash
No one was believed to have survived the crash of a small plane that
was carrying a six-member organ transplant team and their cargo of donor
organs, authorities said Tuesday.
Searchers found human remains during a search in Lake Michigan, about
six miles northeast of Milwaukee, a Coast Guard official said Tuesday.
The team's lifesaving mission -- carrying unspecified organs from
Milwaukee for transplant to a patient in Michigan -- was cut short
Monday when the Cessna Citation went down in 57-degree water shortly
after the pilot signaled an emergency.
Those on board were two surgeons and two donor specialists from the
University of Michigan Health System and two pilots who regularly fly
their transplant missions.
"The condition of the aircraft debris and human remains found
indicate a high-speed impact," said Coast Guard Capt. Bruce Jones at a
news conference. "We believe this to have been a non-survivable crash."
Dr. Darrell A. Campbell, chief of staff of the University of Michigan
Hospitals and Health Centers, said the thoughts of the university
community were with the families of those involved.
"We take consolation in the fact that the team was on a mission to
help another," he said.
The patient who was to have received the transplant organs was in
critical condition, the university said. Jay Campbell, executive
director of the Wisconsin Donor Network, declined to say which hospital
the team was working with, citing privacy regulations.
The first human remains were found late Monday but hadn't been
identified, Jones said. Divers stopped searching at nightfall, while
crews of a Coast Guard boat and helicopter continued searching using
night vision goggles.
Only small parts of the plane had been found so far, Jones said.Jones
said they wouldn't speculate on the crash's cause. The National
Transportation Board was expected to arrive later Tuesday.
The university identified those aboard the plane as: Dr. Martinus
"Martin" Spoor, a cardiac surgeon who had been on the faculty since
2003; Dr. David Ashburn, a physician-in-training in pediatric
cardiothoracic surgery; Richard Chenault II, a transplant donation
specialist with the university transplant program; Richard Lapensee, a
transplant donation specialist with the university transplant program;
and pilots Dennis Hoyes and Bill Serra.
The plane took off from General Mitchell International Airport in
Milwaukee and was headed for Willow Run airport near Detroit, a
42-minute flight, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Tony
Molinaro said.
Within five minutes of its takeoff, the pilot declared an emergency
and requested a return to Mitchell, Molinaro said. But the plane dropped
off radar screens just after the pilot made that request and the Coast
Guard was contacted.
Light rain was falling at the airport with wind of 12 mph, gusting to
22 mph, according to J.J. Wood, a National Weather Service
meteorologist.
The plane was leased by the University of Michigan Health System in
Ann Arbor, according to the university. It's owned by Toy Air and based
at Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Jones estimated the plane was going 185 to 190 mph. He said people
could survive for 16 hours in 57-degree water.
AP
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