An air and sea search is continuing off the American East Coast for a small plane piloted by John F. Kennedy Junior, which has gone missing. Thirty-eight-year-old Mr. Kennedy, the son of the assassinated president, was accompanied by his wife Carolyn Bessette, her sister and a flight instructor. A Pentagon briefing a short time ago suggested that some luggage had been found near the coast, bearing the nametag of Carolyn Bessette. John-John, as he is known, was at the controls of the Piper Saratoga plane, which failed to arrive at Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, where it was heading from a small airport in New Jersey.
John F. Kennedy Junior was on his way to a family wedding with his wife, Carolyn Bessette, her sister and a flight instructor. It is understood that he was piloting the aircraft when it took off from West Caldwell airfield in New Jersey at about 8.30 local time last night. The plane was due to land at Martha's Vineyard at midnight but never arrived. Family members alerted the Federal Aviation Authority of its disappearance shortly after 2 in the morning.
It is understood that the Coast Guard detected a radio signal from an emergency beacon off the coast of Long Island. However, so far the beacon has not recovered and Mr. Kennedy's aircraft is still officially missing. The son of the former President is 38-years-old and was just three when his father was assassinated. Known to millions of American's simply as John John, he launched the glossy political magazine, George, in 1995. Mr Kennedy trained as a lawyer, but refused to rule out a career in politics.
