Pilot, daughter still missing after plane crashes off coast
The small plane, carrying four people, was heading from Jacksonville to Fort Pierce.
By Associated Press
Published December 20, 2005
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ST. AUGUSTINE - The Coast Guard searched unsuccessfull y Monday for a pilot and his daughter who were missing after their small plane crashed off the northeast Florida coast.
Missing since Sunday were pilot Gary Tillman, 43, and his daughter, Hanna Tillman, 16, both of Rome, Ga., said St. Johns County sheriff's Sgt. Charles Mulligan.
Passenger Anna Kipp, 16, of Rome, Ga., was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead, Mulligan said. Another passenger, Rachel Hestetler, 16, was found in the water and is listed in good condition.
"We have not seen any debris, nor have we found the other two individuals," Mulligan said Monday afternoon.
Tillman was an "accurate, educated and well-trained" pilot and well known in the Rome, Ga. area, said his best friend, Ronnie Wallace of Rome.
An insurance broker who specialized in aviation insurance policies, Tillman had been a pilot for decades and sometimes flew his own plane to inspect and insure other small aircraft, Wallace said. He did not know much about the flight that crashed, except that Tillman, his daughter and two of her friends were planning a vacation.
Rain, gale force winds and 7- to 10-foot seas hampered the search after the Cessna 195 went down about a mile off Vilano Beach near St. Augustine, Coast Guard Petty Officer Donnie Brzuska said.
The plane departed Craig Field in Jacksonville and was headed to Fort Pierce.
Gary Tillman reported the plane was in distress and unable to maintain altitude shortly after 1 p.m. A short time later the tower lost contact.
Brzuska said the stormy weather led the Coast Guard to pull a helicopter and motor lifeboat from the search area for safety reasons. An 87-foot cutter was sent to the scene to help in the search and arrived early Monday.
The cause of the crash was being investigated.
"Gary loved life," Wallace said. "And when he was flying, he was all business. Safety was number one."
--Staff writer Tamara Lush contributed to this article.
[Last modified December 20, 2005, 01:49:07]