Crews continue to search for a missing plane that dropped off the radar over Lake Erie Thursday night.
The plane was flown by John T. Fleming, CEO of Columbus-based beverage company Superior Beverage Group, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
Superior Beverage Group's website lists itself as a wine and beer distributor representing more than 500 brands across 37 Ohio counties. Its list of brands include Cleveland-based Great Lakes Brewing Co. and Market Garden.
Great Lakes' CEO Bill Boor issued the following statement Friday afternoon:
"Like everyone, we are anxiously waiting for news about John and his family and neighbors. John and the Superior Beverage Group are not just the wholesaler distributing our beer in our hometown-they are part of our family and have been since we started working with them in 2008. Everyone at Great Lakes will be keeping the Flemings and our Superior family in our prayers."
The brand also has a location on Diamond Parkway in Solon.
The Dispatch also reports that Fleming's wife, Suzanne, 46, and their two sons, John Robert, 15, and Andrew Thomas, 14, were on board the flight in addition to a neighbor and neighbor's daughter. The group was in Cleveland to attend the Cleveland Cavaliers' game.
Fleming's father, John W. Fleming, told The Dispatch that his son was an experienced flier, though he did not say how long he'd been flying.
According to federal records, Fleming was issued a private pilot license in January 2015.
On Thursday night, Fleming's Cessna Citation 525 took off from Burke Lakefront Airport at 10:50. Coast Guard officials say the plane flew about two miles north over Lake Erie when it fell off the radar. The plane was en route to The Ohio State University in Columbus, where the plane is housed at the airfield hangar.
Coast Guard crews searched through the night and have not found any debris or sign of the aircraft.
