By CARRIE ANTLFINGER, Associated Press Writer

MILWAUKEE - No one was believed to have survived the crash of a small plane that was carrying a six-member organ transplant team and their cargo of donor organs, authorities said Tuesday.

Searchers found human remains during a search in Lake Michigan, about six miles northeast of Milwaukee, a Coast Guard official said Tuesday.

The team’s lifesaving mission - carrying unspecified organs from Milwaukee for transplant to a patient in Michigan - was cut short Monday when the Cessna Citation went down in 57-degree water shortly after the pilot signaled an emergency.

Those on board were two surgeons and two donor specialists from the University of Michigan Health System and two pilots who regularly fly their transplant missions.

“The condition of the aircraft debris and human remains found indicate a high’speed impact,” said Coast Guard Capt. Bruce Jones at a news conference. “We believe this to have been a non’survivable crash.”

Dr. Darrell A. Campbell, chief of staff of the University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers, said the thoughts of the university community were with the families of those involved.

“We take consolation in the fact that the team was on a mission to help another,” he said.

The patient who was to have received the transplant organs was in critical condition, the university said. Jay Campbell, executive director of the Wisconsin Donor Network, declined to say which hospital the team was working with, citing privacy regulations.

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