The Carlton County Sheriff’s Office says the Mooney M20J single-engine plane filed a flight plan with the Federal Aviation Administration for a Wednesday trip from the Moose Lake Carlton County Airport to the Crystal Airport in the Twin Cities. The plane, which took off at 4:30 p.m., was scheduled to land in Crystal at 5:15 p.m. but never arrived.
Authorities checked several airports but didn’t find the plane. It was never picked up on radar at either the Duluth or Minneapolis airports, and there have been no citizen reports of a downed aircraft.
A land search is being conducted in the area of the Moose Lake Carlton County Airport. Weather has ruled out an aerial search.
The plane has a tail number of N111JP. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports it’s registered to the nonprofit Club Cherokee, which operates private aircraft for members.
