Port Huron – Freemont

On April 1, 1999 at 12:30 PM, Port Huron – Freemont experienced a crash involving Piper PA-61 Aerostar (Ted Smith 601), operated by Manfred W. Engler, with the event recorded near Saint Clair Shores Michigan.

The flight was categorized as executive/corporate/business and the reported phase was flight at a lake, sea, ocean, river crash site.

2 people were known to be on board, 2 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 1, crew fatalities: 1, passengers on board: 1, passenger fatalities: 1, other fatalities: 0.

The airplane took off from Port Huron, Michigan, on April 1, 1999, at 1130 est. The airplane was scheduled to arrive in Freemont, Ohio. An employee of the pilot's company said that the pilot was going to meet a customer there. At 1230 est, the customer called the company inquiring about the pilot. The employee said that the pilot 'would have taken the shortest route, over [Lake] St. Clair, Ontario [Province], and [Lake] Erie,' to get to Freemont, Ohio. An ALNOT was issued at 1803 est. Search and rescue operations were conducted by the U. S. Coast Guard, Civil Air Patrol, and the Canadian Search and Rescue Center. The search was suspended on April 10, 1999, at 2125 est. The passenger's body was discovered on May 1, 1999, in the Lake St. Clair shipping channel, approximately 6.9 miles east of St. Clair Shores, Michigan. On July 2, 1999, the pilot's body was found in Lake St. Clair. Parts of the airplane identified from the make and model of aircraft were recovered with the bodies.

Aircraft reference details include registration N441CB, MSN 61-0417-150, year of manufacture 1977.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 42.4970°, -82.8891°.