July 17, 1999
Web posted at: 9:36 a.m. EDT (1336 GMT)

Kennedy Jr.  ALSO: Weather Forecasts:  •Montauk, NY  •Martha's Vineyard, MA

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A search was under way Saturday for a missing plane believed to be piloted by John F. Kennedy Jr., the son of the assassinated president.

CNN's Candy Crowley reported that the plane -- with Kennedy, its owner, at the controls -- left a private airport in New Jersey about 9 p.m. Friday en route to Martha's Vineyard. Dan Johnson, an operations specialist at Martha's Vineyard Airport, said the plane did not arrive as expected at the Massachusetts resort community Friday night.

The Federal Aviation Administration said that an aircraft that may have been carrying Kennedy left Caldwell, New Jersey, and was reported missing by the Kennedy family, CNN's Carl Rochelle reported. Kennedy's wife, Carolyn Bessette, and at least one other person were reportedly on board the aircraft as well.

The group was traveling to Martha's Vineyard for the wedding of Kennedy's cousin Rory, daughter of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. The wedding was scheduled for Saturday in Hyannisport.

The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed that it picked up signals from a locator beacon in the waters off Montauk Point, on the eastern tip of Long Island, just before 4 a.m. Saturday. The search is being coordinated by the FAA, and conducted mainly by the Coast Guard, CNN's David Ensor reported.

The single-engine plane was a Piper Saratoga. Kennedy, the founder of the politics and culture magazine George, earned his pilot's license last year.

Weather conditions along what would have been the plane's flight path were quiet overnight, with light clouds and low winds. Conditions remained calm Saturday morning.

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