Missing Ohio Plane: Cockpit Voice Recorder Captured Crash

CLEVELAND, OH - The cockpit voice recorder inside the Cessna 525 airplane that went missing on Dec. 29 recorded the entire flight, says the National Transportation Safety Board. Investigators with the NTSB have not revealed what is on the recording, or why the plane went missing.

Investigators will listen to the recording and complete a transcript of the flight, cleveland.com reports. NTSB says they will release more information later in their investigation.

The plane was carrying six people, three children and three adults. One of the passengers was John Fleming, the CEO and President of Columbus-based Superior Beverage Group. The Fleming family recently held funeral services.

On Tuesday, Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Gilson confirmed that remains found in the search for debris and passengers from a Cessna 525 are human. The remains were identified as human via DNA.

Weather conditions were too severe for search teams to continue their operation today. However, the search continued yesterday, despite deteriorating weather conditions. The Army Corps of Engineers tug vessel had to break through ice to the Salvage Chief out of the water.

Both vehicles found debris near the E. 9th Street Pier. Divers and other crew began extracting the debris at about 1:30 p.m. on Monday. The recovery team said that large pieces of the debris appeared to be chunks of the plane's fuselage. At another location, seats that may have belonged to the plane were recovered. Other debris was located throughout the day.

The operation is now working to confirm that the wreckage found in Lake Erie is related to missing plane. Recovery operations have been suspended due to icy weather. You can watch a video of the ships hitting the ice-laden Lake Erie on Monday.

The Cessna 525 Citation went missing from Burke Lakefront Airport last week. By early Tuesday morning of this week, the recovery operation had located more than 120 pieces of debris that they say is consistent with a Cessna 525.

The plane took off from Burke Lakefront at about 11 p.m. and dropped off the radar shortly thereafter. After dropping off the radar shortly after 11 p.m., the Coast Guard was contacted by Air Traffic Control Services at 11:30 p.m., who requested assistance in locating the missing plane. Teams have been scouring the water ever since.

Photo from US Coast Guard