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Four teenagers were among the eight killed in a plane that crashed Sunday into the Atlantic Ocean while the group was returning home from a hunting trip, authorities announced Wednesday.
The Carteret County, North Carolina, Sheriff's Office said in a news release shared on Facebook that the group went hunting in the state's Hyde County and was set to return to Beaufort, North Carolina. Sheriff Asa Buck said Tuesday in a news conference that investigators recovered plane equipment and the remains of some passengers. It was confirmed Wednesday that the bodies of all eight people aboard the plane had been recovered.
The plane, a Pilatus PC-12/47, crashed into the water along the coast about 2 p.m. on Sunday just off of Drum Inlet near the town of Atlantic, North Carolina, Buck said on Monday evening, according to WNCT. Three debris fields were found about four miles off the shore, Buck added.
On Tuesday, the sheriff's office released the identities of the eight people aboard the plane. They are pilot Ernst Durwood Rawls, 67, of Greenville, North Carolina; Douglas Hunter Parks, 45, of Sea Level, North Carolina; Stephanie Ann McInnis Fulcher, 42, of Sea Level, North Carolina; Jeffrey Worthington Rawls, 28, of Greenville, North Carolina, Jacob Nolan Taylor, 16, of Atlantic, North Carolina; Jonathan Kole McInnis, 15, of Sea Level, North Carolina; Noal Lee Styron, 15, of Cedar Island, North Carolina; and Michael Daily Shepard, 15, of Atlantic, North Carolina. Rawls was the pilot.
Rawls had certificates as a commercial pilot, ground instructor and mechanic, according to FAA records, WITN-TV reported. Records show he had over 20 years of aviation experience.
The plane fuselage was discovered late Monday afternoon in about 55 feet of water, and some personal belongings of the passengers were also recovered, Buck said Tuesday.
One body had been recovered earlier, Buck confirmed in the news conference Monday evening. He declined to name the individual.
"The Carteret County Sheriff's Office would like to extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to the families in these extremely difficult times," a sheriff's office news release said.
Update 02/16/22 6:13 p.m. ET: This story was updated to report that the remains of all eight passengers have been recovered.
