Over 1,000 Iraqis Searched For Three Days

It took rescuers three days to locate the wreckage of an aircraft, believed to be a Cessna business jet, that fell off radar screens Thursday over the mountains of northern Iraq. When the plane was finally found Sunday, those on the scene report all onboard the plane unfortunately perished in the crash.

"I am standing by the wreckage right now. There are six bodies and we have asked for a helicopter to come from the American base and pick them up," said Sulaimaniya airport director Kameran Ahmad to Reuters. "The plane crashed and experts are here to investigate what happened."

Preliminary word of the incident varied widely, with initial reports stating only five were onboard the plane -- four Germans, and an Iraqi. A German police spokesman later confirmed three German employees from an unnamed company north of Munich were onboard, along with an Iraqi business associate and two pilots. The nationality of the pilots is not yet known.

The jet -- identified in early reports from the region as a "Sesna C501" -- was flying from Azerbaijan en route to northern Iraq when it went down in the mountainous Arbad region of northeastern Iraq, near the Iranian border. Over 1,000 Iraqis, including members of the Kurdish peshmerga militia, assisted in the search, along with a five-member US team and US military aircraft.

Ahmad told Reuters officials lost contact with the plane Thursday afternoon as it was flying at 8,000 ft. There is no word yet on a possible cause of the crash, including whether the plane was shot down -- although it appears more likely the accident was weather-related.

There was a snowstorm Thursday in the area where the plane went down, Ahmad said.

FMI: www.centcom.mil