KALAMAZOO, MI, USA
N35549
CESSNA 172I
THE AIRCRAFT WAS OBSERVED TO DEPART THE AIRPORT AT APPROXIMATELY 0230 ON NOVEMBER 21, 1993. NEITHER THE AIRPLANE NOR THE PILOT HAVE BEEN LOCATED SINCE THAT TIME. AT THE TIME OF DEPARTURE THE CHICAGO AIR ROUTE TRAFFIC CONTROL CENTER'S RADAR RECORDING EQUIPMENT WAS TEMPORARILY OUT OF SERVICE. THE RECORDER RETURNED TO SERVICE AT 0347. AT 0410 A TARGET LOCATED 60 MILES EAST OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, OVER LAKE MICHIGAN, WAS RECORDED BY RADAR TO DESCEND FROM 7,500 FEET MEAN SEA LEVEL (MSL) AND DISAPPEAR FROM RADAR AT 2,500 FEET MSL WHILE MAKING FIVE 360 DEGREE TURNS. THE RADAR TARGET WAS NOT IDENTIFIED AS THE MISSING AIRPLANE. THE INJURY AND AIRCRAFT DAMAGE CLASSIFICATIONS ABOVE ARE PRESUMED.
On November 21, 1993, at 0230 eastern standard time, a Cessna 172I, N35549, registered to Eagle Air, Inc., of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and operated by an instrument rated commercial pilot, was observed to depart Kalamazoo, Michigan, with the intended destination of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The airplane and pilot have been missing since that time. A search did not locate either the airplane or pilot. The personal 14 CFR Part 91 flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan was on file. The airplane is presumed destroyed and the pilot is presumed to have sustained fatal injuries. A transcript of an answering machine message, recorded on 11-23-93 at approximately 8:45 A.M. telephone number (616) 323-2910, listed to the pilot stated, "To those that are interested, I really did fly to Milwaukee on Saturday night. I'll be back, if everything goes according to plan, sometime Sunday; Sunday evening. If you need to leave a message, feel free, at the tone, and I'll call you back as soon as I can." A guard at the Battle Creek International Airport, located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, stated that a coded gate, giving access to the airplanes, was opened at 0203. The guard also witnessed, an airplane clicked the runway light's intensity and departed from Battle Creek International Airport at 0230. Weather for both the departure and arrival airports was VFR at the time of departure from Kalamazoo, and remained VFR for several hours thereafter. The Chicago Air Route Traffic Control Center did not record the departure of Cessna 172I, N35549, on radar because of a temporary shutdown to change tape reels. The computer started recording at 0347 eastern standard time. When the recorder resumed operation, the radar data revealed a target at 0410, located 60 miles east of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, over Lake Michigan, to descend from 7,500 mean sea level and disappear from radar at 2,500 feet while making five 360 degree turns. The radar target was not identified as the missing airplane. A search was initiated by the Coast Guard and the Civil Air Patrol. They searched for three days, before abandoning the search for lack of sighting evidence of the airplane. The search determined the airplane never reached its intended destination on November 21, 1993. No other airports reported seeing the airplane and no wrecking was found.
UNDETERMINED.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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