Burke Lakefront accident
 

Columbus beverage company CEO flying plane that disappeared over Lake Erie:

By Beth Burger & Rick Rouan
The Columbus Dispatch • Friday December 30, 2016 11:55 AM
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U.S. Coast Guard searches for the Cessna that disappeared from radar after taking off Thursday night from Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland. A plane that disappeared over Lake Erie late Thursday night was piloted by the chief executive at a Columbus beverage distributor, his father said Friday morning.

The plane is registered to John T. Fleming, CEO at Superior Beverage Group in Columbus. Fleming, a 46-year-old Dublin resident, was flying the Cessna Citation 525 when it lost radar contact over Lake Erie, his father, John W. Fleming said.

Also aboard the plane was John T. Fleming’s wife, Suzanne, 46, their two sons, 15-year-old John Robert Fleming and 14-year-old Andrew Thomas Fleming, a neighbor and a neighbor’s daughter, he said.

“They think they may have crashed into Lake Erie," he said.

U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards have said they are searching for the Cessna that disappeared from radar after taking off Thursday night from Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland.

The U.S. Coast Guard said it was notified at 11:30 p.m. by Burke air traffic control that the Cessna headed to Ohio State University Airport, or Don Scott Field, disappeared shortly after takeoff approximately 2 miles into Lake Erie.

Crews from the Coast Guard Air Station in Detroit sent a MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and a C-130 aircraft from the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Trenton, Ontario from the Royal Canadian Air Force, are searching for the plane.

Mr. Fleming said his son ias “an experienced pilot,” but declined to say how long he had been flying.

The family and neighbors were in Cleveland to watch the Cavaliers game against the Boston Celtics on Thursday night as a treat for the holidays, he said. “We’re just in shock,” he said.

Federal records show Fleming's private pilot certificate was last updated in January 2015. It doesn't indicate how long he has been a pilot. He is licensed to fly single engine and multi-engine planes as well as helicopters.

The U.S. Coast Guard held a news conference this morning and said the search continues.

"They've been searching all night," said Petty Officer 2nd Class Chris Yaw, a public affairs specialist based with the 9th District Coast Guard in Cleveland.

A U.S. Coast Guard 140-foot cutter, Bristol Bay, out of Detroit also has joined the search this morning. "(The cutter) will give us a stable platform to search from,"Yaw said.

The Coast Guard is reporting there are winds around 30 knots. The water in the search area is 50 feet.

Winds are expected to die down throughout the day allowing the Coast Guard to send out smaller boats to search the area.

The plane took off from Cleveland just before 11 p.m. Thursday, according to FlightAware - Flight Tracker / Flight Status / Flight Tracking, but the website never received data about its arrival. It had left Columbus at about 5:30 p.m. Thursday and arrived in Cleveland at about 6 p.m.

The Cessna 525C is a two-engine plane with 11 seats. Fleming's plane was manufactured in 2012, according to federal records. The plane is registered to Maverick Air LLC, according to Flight Aware.

Very sad to hear. :( Around time of takeoff:

KBKL 300516Z 28025G32KT 5SM -SN SCT018 BKN028 OVC050 01/M02 A2974 RMK AO2 PK WND 28032/0516 P0000 T00061022
KBKL 300500Z 27024G30KT 8SM -SN SCT016 SCT024 OVC050 01/M02 A2974 RMK AO2 PK WND 27030/0500 P0000 T00111017
KBKL 300453Z 27023G31KT 9SM -SN BKN018 OVC050 01/M02 A2974 RMK AO2 PK WND 26033/0440 SNE0355B42 SLP074 P0000 T00111022 400440006
KBKL 300400Z 26022G31KT 9SM SCT015 BKN023 OVC039 01/M02 A2974 RMK AO2 PK WND 26027/0356 SNE0355 P0000 T00061017
KBKL 300353Z 26025G31KT 8SM -SN BKN013 BKN022 OVC032 01/M02 A2974 RMK AO2 PK WND 26035/0254 SNB0259 SLP076 P0000 T00061017

I wonder if the craft was hangared.

That jet is a lot of airplane for a single private pilot flying in IMC, icing conditions, and at night.

Do you know his level of experience? Do you know how much training he has accomplished to get to where he is? No?
Neither do I.

I won't judge someone's ability based on the piece of plastic given to them by the FAA.

Yes, read the articles or just do some research. Most recent certificate issued 2015, and a private pilot, not even a commercial pilot. :rolleyes:

That jet is a lot of airplane for ANYBODY flying single pilot IFR.

In order for him to act as PIC the 525, he had to be type-rated in the jet (turbo-jet/fan regardless of MTOW). To earn that type rating, he must have performed to ATP practical test standards, which are well-beyond privilege pilot standards. Additionally, assuming he earned single-pilot privileges in it, the type-ride is even harder. (I'm assuming his wife or whoever was in the right seat wasn't qualified in the jet)

So he can be only private pilot rated, but still have the type. In order to get the type he had to perform to ATP standards, alone, which is no small feat.

Regardless, single pilot IFR is challenging.

Just because somebody got through a checkride once (possibly with heavy coaching) does not mean they are broadly experienced or comfortable in the turbine environment.

I would never let my family fly in a jet piloted by a non-professional pilot. Ever.And I don't care if they have a vanity ATP.

True, but the amount of spatial d training for an ATP. ZERO, nada. USAF did an attempt but until I went thru AIS, I never really received SD training. They had an awesome trainer. The turn out of lighted BKL and the city environment into the black, no horizon, in and out of cloud is a perfect SD setup. I've done it many times and it was briefed and still a bit scary especially when the lake is frozen.

GF

Nonsense. Several years ago, when I went to FSI for my 525C type rating, there were several private pilot, non less than 1,000 hours. Personally, I didn't think the CJ4 was difficult (or even challenging) at all. But, that's me. In fact, it is easier to fly than most prop twins, IMO. Just my 2 cents worth.

Yeah...CJs aren't hard to fly single pilot.