PA Plane Wreckage Found, Pilot Still Missing In Atlantic: Report

PENNSYLVANIA — Massachusetts State Police divers reportedly found wreckage of the single-engine plane from Pennsylvania Thursday afternoon off the coast of Chatham.

The Cape Cod Times reported the plane was found in 80 feet of water 3 miles off North Beach in Massachusetts. The pilot, Roger Mills of Woburn, has not been found, according to the newspaper.

The U.S. Coast Guard called off its search for the Piper 28 aircraft Tuesday morning.

>>Coast Guard Calls Off Search For Missing Plane From PA

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, Mills left alone in his plane from Reading Regional Airport in Reading, Berks County, Sunday afternoon and was headed to Chatham Municipal Airport in Massachusetts to meet a friend.

At 10:34 p.m. Sunday, about 2½ hours after the pilot didn't arrive, the friend called the police to alert them of a possibly downed plane.

The FAA reviewed the radar data of the plane, which was last detected just before 7 p.m. about 3.5 miles off Hyannis, dropping 4,000 feet per minute, according to a CBS4 report. Normally, small planes descend between 500 and 1,000 feet per minute, Chatham airport manager Tim Howard told the Cape Cod Times.

The National Transportation Safety Board announced Tuesday afternoon that it has opened an investigation into the incident, though no further information has been given.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

With reporting from Patch correspondent Jimmy Bentley