Remains Thought To Be Missing Pilot

A four-year-old aviation mystery may have been solved last week.

On April 14, US Navy contractors clearing the former bombing range on the tiny Puerto Rican island of Vieques found aircraft debris, including a tail number matching a missing Aero Commander 112 (type shown at right).

The Associated Press reports human remains found nearby will undergo DNA testing, but investigators are pretty sure they've found Sheldon H. Prudoff of St. Croix.

Prudoff vanished in his single-engine plane the night of February 15, 2004 on a flight from San Juan to St. Croix in the Virgin Islands, where he worked as an oral surgeon. A Coast Guard search turned up no trace at the time.

Vegetation up to 15 feet thick covers much of the area in which the contractors were working. NTSB investigator Todd Gunther will remain on Vieques for several days to study the engine, fuel and hydraulic systems in the hope of pinpointing the cause of the crash.

The Navy quit using the island as a practice range in 2003, and is now in the process of clearing ordnance off the island.

FMI: Read The NTSB Probable Cause Report