Monday, 10AM, at CYTX, was foggy, reporting a mile to a mile and a half visibility, as a Chicago-area BE-58 pilot headed for Toronto City Centre (Toronto Island) airport, having taken off from Lansing (IL) just hours before. The pilot, whose name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, was apparently the only one aboard.

The pilot was about three miles off the end of the runway, and had received clearance to land, when his blip disappeared from radar.

Recovery teams quickly found the wreckage at the bottom of Lake Ontario, over 200 feet down. A floating tire from the airplane marked the spot.

An ANN Reader from the area speculated a bit: "...CYTZ is in Toronto Harbour, right on Lake Ontario. At this time of year the lake is still very cold, and on a humid day you almost always get fog in the morning. There are lots places he could have diverted to. Toronto Buttonville, CYKZ, is only 20 miles north of there." He remembered "a heck of a lot better" visibility there that morning.

"I guess we will never know what was going through his mind, but my personal opinion is that he was unwilling to divert because he was on an International Flight plan, and he was afraid that if he did not stick to it he would be hassled by customs. In my very limited experience with trans-border flights, I have rapidly learned that the sensible thing is to plan to land and clear customs as soon as possible after crossing the border. (In his case, at Sarnia)  You can then divert wherever you have to without any worries."

Perhaps some day we'll know what happened to this unfortunate pilot.

**   Report created 7/8/2003   Record 8  **
IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 6058T        Make/Model: BE58      Description: 58 Baron
  Date: 07/07/2003     Time: 1401
  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: Fatal     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Unknown
LOCATION
  City: TORONTO   State: CN   Country: US
DESCRIPTION
  ACFT WHILE ON APPROACH FOR RUNWAY 26 DISAPPEARED/LOST COMMUNICATION, AND ASSUMED CRASHED, ONE PERSON ON BOARD ASSUMED FATAL, OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES ARE UNKNOWN, TORONTO, CANADA
INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   1
                 # Crew:  1     Fat:   1     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Pass:   0     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
WEATHER: UNK
OTHER DATA
  Activity: Unknown      Phase: Approach      Operation: General Aviation
  Departed: LANSING, IL                 Dep Date:    Dep. Time:
  Destination: TORONTO CITY, CN         Flt Plan: IFR          Wx Briefing: U
  Last Radio Cont: UNK
  Last Clearance: UNK