By BOB GIBBINS
Local and state authorities searched a thickly wooded area near Zeb for several hours Tuesday evening for what may have been a downed aircraft.
Tahlequah-Cherokee County Emergency Management Director Gary Dotson and Undersheriff Jason Chennault, both of whom were in the search area southeast of Tahlequah, said Oklahoma Highway Patrol officials discontinued the search around 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Heavy thunderstorms were rolling through the area and hampered potential recovery efforts.
Dotson said thaqt he understood no one actually saw an aircraft going down, but a Woodall firefighter reported a large fireball and smoke in the area.
Chennault requested all-terrain vehicles from Tahlequah-Cherokee County Emergency Management to help search the area.
“OHP’s going to bring their aircraft in tomorrow [Wednesday] and fly the area if the weather’s clearer,” Chennault said.
The OHP investigates aircraft crashes.
Dotson said a crew is also expected to fly the area from Davis Field at Muskogee, weather permitting.
In addition to Cherokee County personnel and the OHP, Muskogee city and county emergency management personnel were searching on their side of the county line for what caused the fireball.
