20040622021219A

(-23) On June 22, 2004 at approximately 10:50 local time, a Cessna model 210 bearing registration number N99HW, registered to stone house aviation inc. and operating under 14 CFR part 91, lost contact with air traffic control while over lake erie approximately 1 mile off the coast of Dunkirk, NY. The aircraft was enroute from flint (flt) to jamestown (jhw) on an instrument flight plan. A witness on a fishing boat located near the point of impact reported seeing an aircraft with one wing missing emerge from the clouds in a nose down spiral. According to the witness, the aircraft hit the water nose first and disappeared. The pilot was the sole occupant and was fatally injured. The body of the pilot was recovered by members of the new york state police. This accident remains under investigation. Aircraft wreckage has not yet been located. (-23 amendment) on July 12, 2004, the chautauqua county sheriff's department water emergency team recovered the aircraft wreckage from lake erie. The aircraft was destroyed. All major components were recovered with the exception of the left wing. The pilot's logbook as well as the aircraft maintenance records were presumed in the aircraft and were not recovered. A review of the radar track and ATC tapes obtained from the erie air traffic control tower and weather radar data obtained from the national weather service indicate that the aircraft flew through an area of convective activity while receiving radar vectors from ATC near Dunkirk, NY. A review of the tape containing the flight service station pilot briefing obtained from lansing flight service station indicate the pilot received a preflight briefing and was told not to expect any convective activity or thunderstorms along the proposed route of flight.