Civil Air Patrol: Man, Woman Dead When Plane Bound For Claremore Crashes

An Oklahoma Civil Air Patrol captain reports the bodies of a man and woman have been discovered after a plane disappeared in Madison County on Monday afternoon.

Captain Rick Rutledge says an aircrew spotted the downed plane in a remote area near Huntsville.

"The ground team silenced the emergency locator transmitter they found at the site," Rutledge said in a news release. "Two casualties, a man and a woman, were found in the wreckage."

KRSM 5News, a CBS affiliate, reports they were husband and wife.

Authorities say the plane was headed to Claremore, Oklahoma from Alabama. The aircraft disappeared from radar in Madison County, Arkansas.

KFSM reports that the 1997 single-engine Piper Saratoga was traveling to Claremore Monday afternoon when it went through a patch of bad weather. Neighbors say they heard a loud boom about the same time the plane went missing.

10/21/2013 Related Story: Authorities Believe Plane Bound For Claremore Crashed In Arkansas

About 150 people were involved in the search Tuesday morning from Benton, Madison and Washington Counties. The state police and Forestry Service are among those involved in the search.

KSFM 5News reports the plane's pilot notified air-traffic control that the plane was experiencing problems. The pilot never checked back in with air traffic controllers, according to Madison County Sheriff Phillip Morgan.

The CBS affiliate reports that the plane was sold around September 1 to someone possibly from Oklahoma.

Read more at KSFM 5News.

Watch News On 6 at Noon for updates to this story from Anchor Craig Day.