Authorities on Monday located the wreckage of a small airplane that went missing with three people aboard in the southeast metro over the Mississippi River.
Airplane wreckage found near Cottage Grove, no sign of 3 aboard
Three were on board the Cessna that went down in deep quarry water near the Mississippi River.
The search for the plane began Sunday night at Grey Cloud Island. The airplane departed from nearby South St. Paul Municipal Airport earlier in the day, said airport director Andrew Wall.
The wreckage was located about 9 a.m., but no other details about the crash or those aboard were immediately available, said Cottage Grove city spokesman Scott Seroka.
The plane has yet to be recovered.
Throughout Sunday evening and until 4 a.m. Monday, sheriff's deputies and police officers searched the privately owned quarry with boats and lights, the statement said.
They found plane debris, leading them to believe they were searching in the correct area.
"The search operation conditions are difficult, as the quarry walls are sand-based and the quarry itself is up to 200 feet deep," the statement read.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it was waiting to be notified by local authorities about the fate of the plane.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
![Washington County Water Recovery personnel searched with sonar on Monday, Sept. 14, for an airplane that went down in a quart near Grey Cloud Island between Cottage Grove and St. Paul Park.](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/COUBV3AWV3TG3E64DJQYKF7UAE.jpg?&w=712)
![Washington County Sheriff Dan Starry spoke to the media on Monday, Sept. 14, regarding the search for a small Cessna aircraft that went down in the Mississippi River in the southeast metro near Grey Cloud Island between Cottage Grove and St. Paul Park.](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/2RE2FYVLVEU772YJ4DCDR3BM7Y.jpg?&w=712)
![A Sheriff's Department boat began the search for a missing plane in the water off Grey Cloud Island late Sunday night.](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/HU4P36RCAEERX72UA72BRRTYSA.jpg?&w=712)
![Washington County Sheriff Dan Starry addressed the media regarding the continued search for a small Cessna aircraft that went down in the Mississippi River in the southeast metro near Grey Cloud Island between Cottage Grove and St. Paul Park, MN, Monday, September 14, 2020. ] ELIZABETH FLORES • liz.flores@startribune.com](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/BEVZMTZIZI26IL4Y7GBQJNGO74.jpg?&w=712)
![Washington County Water Recovery personnel search with sonar for an airplane that went down in a quart near Grey Cloud Island between Cottage Grove and St. Paul Park. The search operation conditions are difficult, as the quarry walls are sand-based and the quarry itself is up to 200 feet deep in places. brian.peterson@startribune.com St. Paul, MN Monday, September 14, 2020](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/UCIXDWZO3OZRQBPKAE5OE2OIBQ.jpg?&w=712)
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