Emergency crews were setting up a command post Monday afternoon in Pender County to search for a missing aircraft overdue at a Jacksonville airport, an official said.
"We don't know at this point if there is a plane crash. What information I've been given so far is that an airplane left Albert Ellis Airport yesterday. The aircraft is equipped with one of those emergency beacons and the beacon has been set off and is pinging in a couple different locations near the Duplin/Pender county line," said N.C. Highway Patrol First Sgt. Will Thurston. "A military Osprey is on the way to go to that GPS coordinate location there to see if they can locate anything."
Thurston said crews are looking for a single-engine aircraft.
Pender County Emergency Management Director Tom Collins said the call about the missing airplane came in just before 2 p.m. Monday.
He said there were reports Sunday that an aircraft was lost on radar.
The Penderlea Fire Department, Pender County EMS and Union Emergency Services were setting up a command post in the area of Crooked Run Road in Penderlea.
The air traffic manager at Wilmington International Airport's FAA Control Tower said law enforcement called Monday to ask if his controllers had any contact with a particular aircraft call sign, but they had not.
"We looked it up. We never talked to that aircraft," he said.
Check back later for more on this developing story.