Officials: Small Plane Crash Near Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge
KINGSTON, N.Y. (AP/1010 WINS) -- Authorities in Ulster County are responding to a report that a vintage military jet crashed in the Hudson River as it came in for a landing at an airport in Kingston. The pilot was missing and feared dead.
Rescue crews responded Saturday to a spot on the river near Kingston-Ulster Airport, an airstrip that serves recreational aircraft. Only one person was known to be aboard the plane when it went down.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Holly Baker says the aircraft was partially submerged after the crash and the pilot was unaccounted for.
The accident happened at about 1:30 p.m. Saturday on an ice-covered stretch of the Hudson near the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge.
The jet was a British-made BAC 167 Strikemaster. Baker says it was headed to Kingston-Ulster Airport, about 50 miles southwest of Albany, from an airfield Johnstown, Pa., when it went down. The aircraft made a low pass over the airstrip before hitting the river.
Dispatchers for the Ulster County Sheriff's Department and the Kingston police said they had no other information.
A person who answered the phone at Kingston-Ulster Airport said he couldn't answer any questions.
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