Coast Guard ends search for small plane and crew of southeastern Mass. (photos available)

BREWSTER, Mass. – First responders from the Brewster Police Department and Massachusetts State Police talk at Saint’s Landing in Brewster, Mass., after two bodies were recovered after their small airplane crashed, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. The two people aboard the small aircraft were located deceased by a Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Cape Cod and a Brewster Fire Department crew on Saint’s Landing. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Lt. Joe Klinker.

BREWSTER, Mass. – A Brewster Fire Department fireman looks on as first responders remove debris at Saint’s Landing in Brewster, Mass., where two bodies were located after their small airplane crashed, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. The Coast Guard began searching for the plane after receiving a report from the Federal Aviation Association stating they had lost communication with the plane after the crew reported having smoke in their cabin. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Lt. Joe Klinker.

BREWSTER, Mass. – Chief Petty Officer Robert Holland. The officer in charge of Coast Guard Station Cape Cod Canal discusses operations with the Brewster Fire Department at the Incident Command Post at Saint’s Landing in Brewster, Mass., after wrapping up the search for a missing airplane and its two-person crew Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. An HU-25 Falcon jet crew and MH-60 Jayhawk helicoter crew from Air Station Cape Cod, a Coast Guard Auxiliary aircraft, a 41-foot Utility Boat crew from Coast Guard Station Cape Cod Canal and a 47-foot Motor Lifeboat crew from Coast Guard Station Provincetown spent several hours searching for the single engine plane and its crew. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Lt. Joe Klinker.

BREWSTER, Mass. — The U.S. Coast Guard has ended their search for the missing aircraft and its two-person crew off Brewster, Mass., Sunday.

The two people aboard the small aircraft were located deceased by a Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Cape Cod and a Brewster Fire Department crew at Saint’s Landing in Brewster, Mass.

Brewster Fire Department located the first person and the helicopter crew located the second person shortly after.

“The search conditions were challenging, but we had good communications with the Dennis Police Department and other ground crews, which enabled us to direct ground crews to the second person when we located him in the surf,” said Lt. j.g. Jared Carbajal, the Coast Guard helicopter co-pilot.

Neither the plane nor its wreckage has been located.

“It’s a sad way to end a flight,” said Carbajal. “It’s certainly not the outcome we were hoping for, but I just hope the families will be able to have some closure.”

Both names are being withheld pending next of kin notification by the Brewster Police Department.

"First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends," said Lt. Joe Klinker, 1st Coast Guard District public affairs officer. "We could see it on the faces of all the first responders. Everyone was hoping the search would end very differently."

In addition to the helicopter crew, an HU-25 Falcon jet crew from Air Station Cape Cod, a Coast Guard Auxiliary aircraft, a 41-foot Utility Boat crew from Coast Guard Station Cape Cod Canal and a 47-foot Motor Lifeboat crew from Coast Guard Station Provincetown spent several hours searching for the single engine plane and its crew.

The Coast Guard began searching for the plane after receiving a report from the Federal Aviation Association stating they had lost communication with the plane after the crew reported having smoke in their cabin.

The initial release can be found here.

###

Saving Lives and Guarding the Coast Since 1790.
The United States Coast Guard -- Proud History. Powerful Future.