Recovery Efforts underway on Lake Erie for Cessna Citation 525

Authorities are searching for a small plane, a Cessna Citation 525, which went missing over Lake Erie on Thursday evening after taking off from Cleveland’s lakefront airport.

The plane is believed to have been carrying 3 adults and 3 children including John Fleming, the CEO of Superior Beverage Group, and his family, who were traveling home from the Cleveland Cavaliers’ game. According to the FAA, the aircraft’s anticipated destination was The Ohio State University in Columbus, but the aircraft disappeared from radar about two miles over Lake Erie.

Recovery operations began on Sunday after multiple reports of debris and a bag with an identification card washed ashore. Efforts are being led by the City of Cleveland, along with private divers that began searching the lake Monday once weather conditions became favorable.

Motley Rice aviation attorneys have experience with small plane crashes, including the 2007 crash of a Cessna Citation II into Lake Michigan. In that case, our private investigation revealed electrical flight control failures, a conclusion which differed from that of the National Transportation Safety Board.