Recovery to resume at crash site

1/23/2004

KINGSVILLE, Ont. - The search for a downed plane in Lake Erie is to resume this morning after it was halted yesterday so the Canadian Coast Guard vessel housing the recovery team could restock.

The Samuel Risley returned to the Kingsville harbor yesterday, in part because of poor weather. The team had been on site in frozen Lake Erie looking for a Cessna 208 Caravan that crashed in the lake Saturday soon after taking off from nearby Pelee Island. All 10 people aboard were killed.

Meanwhile, Transport Canada stripped Georgian Express, the airline that operated the plane, of its license.

Ontario Provincial Police said the Samuel Risley left the crash scene about 8 a.m. yesterday. It was escorting a second boat that had been sent to the area to help keep ice clear.

The recovery team has been hampered by shifting ice, making it difficult to find the plane.