Heavy fog in Southeast Missouri, Northeast Arkansas hinders search for small plane

Heavy fog in southeast Missouri and northeast Arkansas was hindering the search Friday for a small plane missing for about a day.

Two people from Barr Air Patrol LLC of Mesquite, Texas, were on board the Cessna 182R that was scheduled to land at 1 p.m. Thursday at Batesville, Ark., Regional Airport. It failed to show up, and the last contact was earlier Thursday when the plane was over Ripley County, Mo.

"At this time, we are waiting for fog to lift," said Mike McDuffie, president of Barr Air Patrol. "We have a complete search and rescue operation coordinated with Missouri and Arkansas police and Civil Air Patrol.

"At this time we're crossing our fingers and saying a prayer for those on the plane and their families."

The names of the plane's passengers were not released. The company specializes in aerial patrol and transportation for oil, gasoline and petrochemical companies, and was supposed to make visual confirmation of an Exxon pipeline running through the area, authorities said.

McDuffie would not say where the flight departed from.

Ken Rawlings, assistant manager at the Batesville airport, said he was unaware of the plane's flight plan. But he said it was a tough day to fly.

"We had extremely lousy conditions yesterday -- it rained, clouds lifted and lowered," Rawlings said.

Jerry Hodo of the Ripley County Sheriff's Department said there were no reports of anyone hearing or seeing a plane in distress.

Barr Air Patrol has been in operation since 1940, according to the company's Web site. Much of the site focuses on the company's safety efforts. Planes are maintained to the highest standards and maintenance personnel attend continuous training sessions, it said.

Pilots average more than 10 years patrol experience and more than 6,500 hours of flight time on patrol, the Web site said.