Plane Was Flying Survey Mission Along US Border

The worst fears of officials in the United States and Mexico have been confirmed... as early Wednesday, search crews located the wreckage of a Cessna 421 twin that took off Monday on a mission to survey floodwaters along the border between the two countries.

Local media reports stated US Border Patrol crews found the wreckage in a rugged section of the Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico, about 20 miles northwest of Presidio, TX. The plane had been scheduled to land in the Texas border town Monday night, after overflying rising water levels along the Rio Grande basin.

Among the dead were leaders of its US and Mexican branches of the the International Boundary and Water Commission.

The investigation will now be taken over by the FAA and NTSB, and Mexican aviation officials.

Original Report

09.17.08 1200 EDT: Officials on both sides of the border between the United States and Mexico agree a Cessna 421 carrying four members of the International Water and Boundary Commission failed to arrive at its destination Monday... but reports differ on the possible fate of the plane, and the men onboard.

On Tuesday, the governor of the Mexican state of Chihuahua said the plane (similar to type shown above) had been found near the town of Ojinaga, across the border from the plane's planned destination of Presidio, TX.

Governor Jose Reyez Baeza told The Associated Press all four people onboard were killed. However, a later AP report states only that an ELT signal from the plane was detected -- with no further details about the condition of the aircraft, or whether there were any survivors.

The aircraft was on a survey mission to inspect water levels in the Luis Leon Reservoir, which is threatening to overrun levees on both sides of the border.

Onboard the chartered twin-engine aircraft were US commissioner Carlos Marin; his Mexican counterpart, Arturo Herrera; Jake Brisbin Jr., executive director of the Rio Grande Council of Governments; and the pilot, who was not identified in news reports.

ANN will update this story as more information becomes available.

FMI: www.ibwc.state.gov