Missing plane found in Arkansas; both passengers killed

The wreckage of a small plane was found Friday in a wooded area near Batesville, Ark., a day after the plane was reported missing. Both passengers on board died.

The plane, a Cessna 182 operated by Barr Air Patrol LLC of Mesquite, Texas, was found about 1 p.m. a mile and a half east of the Batesville airport, said Richard Griffin of the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management. Names of the victims have not been released.

Griffin said a woman who thought she heard or saw an aircraft in distress contacted the Independence County, Ark., Sheriff's Department.

The plane was reported missing Thursday afternoon. Griffin said the plane took off from Joliet, Ill., and was bound for Beaumont, Texas. He was unsure if the plane planned a stop in Batesville, and assistant airport manager Ken Rawlings said he was unaware of plans for the plane to land there.

The National Transportation Safety Board was investigating. Rawlings said the weather on Thursday was foggy and rainy. The fog was still bad enough Friday that crews could not use planes in the search that covered Southeast Missouri and northeast Arkansas. The last contact with the plane came when it was over Ripley County, Mo.

Mike McDuffie, president of Barr Air Patrol, was not available to comment, a man answering the phone at the company's office said.

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.

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.