CHINCOTEAGUE, Va. (AP) — The Coast Guard has suspended the search for a pilot who lost consciousness and crashed a small airplane into the Atlantic Ocean off the Virginia shore.
Petty Officer Nate Littlejohn says the search was halted Sunday morning after a civilian boater recovered a wheel and engine cowling from the single-engine Cirrus. Littlejohn says the chances of finding anything else were slim.
The plane drifted into restricted airspace over the nation’s capital Saturday afternoon, scrambling fighter jets that stayed with it until it crashed about 50 miles southeast of Chincoteague. The plane had left Waukesha, Wisconsin, and was headed to Manassas, Virginia. The pilot, whose name has not been released, was the only person on board.
The plane was registered to Ronald Hutchinson of Brookfield, Wisconsin.
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