Plane Crash Found After Intensive Search

BROWERVILLE, Minn. – A small plane carrying a flight instructor and a student pilot went missing for several hours before teams undertaking an intensive search found the wreckage and the two bodies Wednesday in a swamp, authorities said.

The plane left St. Paul for Grand Forks, N.D., shortly before 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, and air traffic officials’ last contact with it was at 10:15 p.m., officials said. The plane did not arrive as scheduled at 11:45 p.m.

A ground search of all airports from St. Cloud, Minn., to Grand Forks was conducted early Wednesday, said officials at the University of North Dakota, which owned the plane. The Civil Air Patrol sent five aircraft to continue the search.

More planes joined the search Wednesday afternoon, with volunteer pilots from several cities, said Capt. Al Pabon of the Civil Air Patrol. The wreckage was found around 4 p.m. northwest of Browerville by air searchers and confirmed by ground teams, the patrol said.

Killed were the pilot, Annette Klosterman, 22, a University of North Dakota flight instructor from Seattle, and Adam Ostapenko, 20, a junior aviation student from Duluth, authorities said.

Browerville is about 110 miles northwest of Minneapolis.