Crews search rural Madison County for missing plane

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

HUNTSVILLE — The Civil Air Patrol is searching for a private airplane that went missing from radar on a flight from Alabama to Oklahoma.

The patrol says the single-engine aircraft dropped off Federal Aviation Administration radar about 2 p.m. Monday. Crews are searching an area of rural Madison County in western Arkansas for the plane, which reportedly had two people on board.

On Monday, crews flew over the area using thermal imaging in search of the plane, but they did not find the aircraft. The search for the plane resumed Tuesday.

It wasn't immediately clear who owned the aircraft. Tulsa television station KJRH reported that the Piper Saratoga was headed to Claremore, Okla., from Sylacauga, Ala.