CARTERET COUNTY, N.C. — United States Coast Guard and fire department crews responded to a report of a downed aircraft off the coast of North Carolina Sunday. Wednesday, the Carteret County Sheriff's Office confirmed the remains of the passengers on board were recovered.
The Coast Guard says watchstanders, who monitor radio communication, received a report of a possible downed aircraft about 4 miles east of Drum Inlet from a Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point air traffic controller on Sunday. The air traffic controller reported that the aircraft was behaving erratically on radar, then disappeared from the radar screen.
Drum Inlet is located along Cape Lookout National Seashore between Morehead City and Ocracoke.
Coast Guard boat crews and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew searched the area. Local fire departments and National Park Service beach crews also responded.
Federal Aviation Administration records show the single-engine Pilatus PC-12/47 aircraft was registered out of Wilmington, North Carolina. Flight tracking data showed the plane had departed near Hyde County Airport minutes before the crash.
On Tuesday, WRAL-TV in Raleigh learned the names of all eight people onboard the plane:
- 67-year-old pilot Ernest Rawls of Greenville, N.C.
- 28-year-old Jeffrey Rawls of Greenville, the pilot's son
- 42-year-old Stephanie McInnis Fulcher of Sea Level, N.C.
- 15-year-old Jonathan Kole McInnis of Sea Level
- 45-year-old Douglas Hunter Parks of Sea Level
- 15-year-old Noah Lee Styron of Cedar Island, N.C.
- 15-year-old Michael Daily Shephard of Atlantic, N.C.
- 16-year-old Jacob Nolan Taylor of Atlantic
NBC News learned from family members of those onboard the plane was carrying the group of parents and teens for a one-day duck hunt.
In a news release Wednesday, the Carteret County Sheriff's Office confirmed all the remains had been recovered. The remains were examined at Carteret Health Care and are being transported to East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine for further examination.
As of Wednesday, two of the passengers had been identified; their remains are being turned over to their families.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are expected to investigate the crash.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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