Off Block Island – March 13, 1987

     On March 13, 1987, a single engine Cessna P21, (Reg. No. N6434A), with a lone pilot aboard, left Hyannis, Massachusetts, bound for East Hampton, New York, and ultimately to New Bern, North Carolina, but disappeared in-route.  Officials said the aircraft had been flying at 16,000 feet over water between Block Island and Long Island on IFR rules when its radar signal was lost.  A search was instituted but only a piece of the plane’s antenna was recovered.

     At about 3 p.m. on March 19, the fishing boat Heidi & Kristi was dragging its nets for flounder about four miles northeast of Block Island when the fuselage of the missing plane was snagged in its nets and brought to the surface.  The pilot was still inside.

     Sources:

     The Providence Journal, “Boat Hauls Up Plane, Dead Pilot”, March 20, 1987, page A-3.

     Aviation Safety Network