Airplane crash investigation underway in Ontonagon County
ONTONAGON COUNTY — The Ontonagon Sheriff’s Department received information in regards to a possible missing airplane in Ontonagon County over the weekend. The Gogebic County Sheriff’s Department received information on Saturday August 3 that an aircraft had departed the Gogebic County Airport destined for the Ontonagon Airport.
The Gogebic County Sheriff’s Department reported that the aircraft did not arrive as scheduled. Gogebic County Sheriff’s Department Deputies obtained the coordinates of the pilots last known cell phone location.
With assistance from the Civil Air Patrol, a more definitive location was obtained. A ground search team comprised of law enforcement officers from the Ontonagon County Sheriff’s Department, Gogebic County Sheriff’s Department, United States Forest Service Law Enforcement, Michigan State Police Wakefield Post, and Porcupine Mountains State Park Rangers performed a ground search in an extremely remote and inaccessible area of Carp Lake Township, Ontonagon County. The Civil Air patrol provided aircraft and personnel to search from the air.
The aircraft was located by ground search personnel and the pilot/lone occupant was deceased at the scene. The pilot has been identified as 36-year-old Jack Maccani, of Ironwood. The plane was a mid-1960’s Piper Cherokee 180.
The Federal Aviation Administration has been notified and will be performing an investigation.
ABC10 will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.