Ted Smith Aerostar N555BU

   It was the 27th of April 1978. Fort Lauderdale physician, Anthony Purcell, was at 3,400 feet over the Gulf after leaving Pompano Beach, Florida. He was flying his sleek Ted Smith special, An Aerostar 601. He was being monitored on radar. Everything was routine. The weather was clear, with  only some moderate headwind. His blip showed that he was descending normally, at a standard rate to another altitude.

       Yet with the next sweep of the hand, Purcell’s blip was gone. Then
         there was a burst of ELT signal, as if the Aerostar had suddenly
           jettisoned its auto alarm. But it was quickly silenced after only 5
             seconds.  

                 Two more bursts were encountered during search operations,
               both on the 29th, that only lasted for 2 seconds each and
               did not allow for any kind of fix. As late as May 1, the
             Coast Guard was still issuing full search orders:

           ALL AIRCRAFT MAINTAIN STRICT VFR IN SEARCH AREAS ON
         SCENE COMMANDER AUTHORIZED TO ALTER SEARCH PLAN AS ON
         SCENE CONDITIONS DICTATE. KEEP SEARCH MISSION
         COMMANDER ADVISED. PROVIDE AIRCRAFT SEPARATION IN ALL
       AREAS . . .SEARCH OBJECT IS DEBRIS, LIFERAFT, MAN IN WATER . . .
         VISIBILITY IS 15-20 MILES.

     Despite an intensive search, there never was any trace found of the aircraft. The ELT, if those electronic signals were from his, was never located. It should be noted that a 90% chance of spotting debris or life raft was forecast due to the weather conditions that prevailed. One pilot requested descent to 500 feet and did a lattice search at a 3 nautical miles spacing.

    The ELT signals propose some problems. Officially, they were never determined as coming from the lost Aerostar. However, they present a pattern with a few other disappearances, in which radio messages came much later after fuel starvation, as if from time and space.

   There is no solution to this mystery, of course. The best guess comes from a clue. It was believed that the Aerostar’s altimeter had not been working prior to takeoff. The Aerostar was in excellent condition otherwise. Did Purcell misjudge his descent and send his plane into a deadly spin?