LEVY COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – U.S. Coast Guard crews resumed their search Tuesday for a missing plane carrying a Tampa Bay area family.  Crews with the U.S. Coast Guard have been searching since Sunday afternoon to find them, after the trio vanished without a trace.

For crews, it is a daunting task, flying over miles and miles over water – scanning the gulf for signs of life.

The single-engine Cherokee Piper plane had three people on board, a father, his fiance, and teenage son, when it took off from a Brooksville airport around 10:30 a.m. The last know radar contact came shortly after that.

“At approximately 11[a.m.] was the last known radar ping for this aircraft, which was approximately seven miles south of Cedar Key Florida,” said Commander Randall Brown with the U.S. Coast Guard.

The 65-year-old pilot Jasper Jerrels, his 17-year-old son Dylan and the pilot’s fiancé Hue Singletary, were flying to Cedar Key for lunch.

Search crews faced a number of challenges overnight as they looked for the plane

“They battled fog overnight, which unfortunately, mother nature made it very difficult for us to try and see the surface of the water from the air,” said Brown.

The plane’s pilot did not file a flight plan and was flying under visual flight rules.

Just after 5 p.m. on Sunday, a missing plane report was filed.

The Coast Guard said the plane has experienced mechanical difficulties before, but nothing during this flight.

“The report that we received was that there was previous engine trouble, in a separate flight…that required an emergency landing in the past, which was successful. But, at this point, there was no radio contact reporting any distress, engine trouble or anything like that around the 11 time yesterday,” said Brown.

Singletary’s daughter posted a message on Facebook asking for prayers and hope.

“Anytime there’s an aviation tragedy, there’s families that are affected. They want answers.  They want them yesterday, and we all understand that,” Captain John Cox told News Channel 8.

The longtime aviation expert has been flying planes for 47 years. He began following this mystery since it happened and offered some insight. He believes one of three things happened – an engine died, a fire started on board or there was a medical emergency. No distress signal was ever heard.

“Once they departed that airspace, there’s no requirement for them to have a flight plan filed or talk to air traffic control,” said Cox.

A helicopter was dispatched from the USCG Air Station in Clearwater along with a 27-foot boat that was dispatched from the USCG station in Yankeetown.

Also assisting in the search are personnel from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Levy County Fire and Rescue, and Cedar Key Fire and Rescue, the Coast Guard said in a statement.

Members of the boating community are also helping with the search.

Crews are searching a 150-square-mile area for the plane.

The USCG asks that boaters contact them if they plan on helping with the search.

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