Small Plane Piloted By NY Philanthropist, George F. Baker III, Missing Off Nantucket
A small plane piloted by 66 year old George F. Baker III, a New York Philanthropist is missing off Nantucket, MA.
The twin-engine Beechcraft was flying at 200 feet and was about 2 1/2 miles from Nantucket Memorial Airport when it disappeared from radar around 4:45 p.m., said Jim Peters, an FAA spokesman.
The plan was en route from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, Peters said. Baker filed a flight plan through the Islip Flight Service Station on Long Island, Peters said.
He said the pilot spoke to FAA air traffic controllers at Otis Air Force Base on Cape Cod shortly before the plane disappeared. The plane already had been cleared to land at Nantucket airport, and the pilot did not issue a distress signal.
According to Baker’s wife, he is an experienced pilot who had been flying since he was 18.
Coast Guard spokeswoman Kelly Newlin said there was no immediate sign of any wreckage in the water or on land, although police told the Coast Guard they saw a red light in the water near the airport’s runway.
“We still haven’t found anything — no debris,” she said Friday morning.
UPDATE: December 3, 2005: NBC4, Search Ends For Plane Piloted By NY Philanthropist
BOSTON — The Coast Guard has suspended its search for a plane piloted by a New York philanthropist that went missing off Nantucket, Mass.
The Coast Guard has not found any wreckage in the water or on land.
New England News (WHDH-TV): Search ends for missing plane piloted by NY philanthropist
The Coast Guard searched through the night, but did not find Baker’s plane. They suspended their search around 1:10 p.m. Friday, according to Coast Guard spokeswoman Kelly Newlin.
Nantucket police officers found a First Aid kit, a bottle of aviation lubricant and “a couple pieces of plastic” near Nobadeer Beach, but no other debris was immediately discovered, said Police Chief William Pittman.
“I don’t know if they came from the airplane or not,” Pittman added. “There’s nothing that points directly at that plane.” He said police planned to resume their search Saturday morning.
Palm Beach Post: Aircraft missing off Mass. piloted by zoo benefactor Baker
On Friday, the Coast Guard suspended its search of the waters near Nantucket Island for the twin-engine plane piloted by George F. Baker III, 66, whose family established the Harvard Business School. Baker is the senior trustee of the George F. Baker Trust, a foundation that in 1999 donated $500,000 for the redevelopment of the Palm Beach Zoo at Dreher Park.
In 1993, the trust donated $100,000 to help start a guided boat tour on the zoo’s Baker Lake. Several of Baker’s relatives have homes in Palm Beach County.
Too bad this pilot was not a damn Kennedy, they would still
be searching for his plane. Isn’t it amazing what power can do.
This pilot had money, but not the power of Chapaquiddic Kennedy
and his scummy clan.
landscape@prodigy.net
Comment by Allen Robinski | December 4, 2005
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