Two dead after Hyannis-bound plane plunges into Cape Cod Bay
A single-engine airplane on a training flight that took off from Martha’s Vineyard this morning crashed into shallow water off Brewster’s coast, killing the two occupants, authorities said today.
One body was pulled from the icy Cape Cod Bay this afternoon, Brewster Fire Captain Don LaBonte said in a phone interview.
The Piper Comanche, bound for Hyannis, lost all communication about 10:10 a.m., said Jim Peters, spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
The craft was last verified flying about 2,000 feet about 10 miles northeast of Hyannis about a mile off the shore line, Peter said.
Before the crash the pilot indicated that smoke was filling the cabin, but told air traffic controllers that it had cleared. Peters said it was the last communication controllers received.
After the plane disappeared from radar and lost radio contact Coast Guard rescue boats, a helicopter, and a jet converged to search for it, eventually spotting wreckage in about four feet of water.
According to FAA records, the plane, first airworthy in 1961, was co-owned by Margaret M. Johnston, of East Falmouth, and Robert H. Walker. The craft was last registered in June 2010.
It was unclear if either of the owners were aboard when the aircraft went down.
Debris began washing up on a Brewster beach, where Peters said local law enforcement and rescue workers are standing by.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators have been notified, he said. No cause for the crash has been established.
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