The Enigma of Spector N5805C

   Part I

On January 6, 1981, Miami Flight Service Station received a call from a pilot calling himself Robert Spector. He reported he had departed Opa-Locka at 9:45 a.m. and was now en route to Bimini. He then filed a VFR Flight Plan indicating arrival there at 10:15 a.m. A friend, Armando Milenes, accompanied him. They landed there on scheduled (confirmed by Bimini Customs) and picked up two Bahamian citizens, Sandra Williams
       and Marcelo Cookley Jr.
               They departed for Nassau at 10:36 a.m.
           "Nassau Radio, Nassau Radio," he called out over the radio
           four minutes later .
           "Go ahead," Nassau signaled.
           "We are a Beech 35 N5805C," he reported. "Will be flying
             at 3,000 feet. We have four passengers aboard; we have
           four yellow life vests. Aircraft is white with green. Pilot's
         name is Robert Spector. That's sierra papa echo charlie
         tango oscar romeo. We are estimating approximately forty five
       minutes en route.
       We have five hours fuel on board. The aircraft cruises at 130 knots."
   Spector once again stated his home base was Hangar One, Opa-Locka.
   Projecting his estimation, it placed their ETA at Nassau for 11:21 a.m.  

Typical shallows and beauty of the Exumas.

   The weather was perfect, absolutely unlimited visibility, and the sea below was flat calm, dotted by an occasional power yacht and sail boat traveling the Bahamas.
   Nassau continued to wait for the aircraft. A glance at the clock showed it was now 11:41. The flight was 20 minutes overdue.
     At that moment a voice came over the receiver at Nassau. The pilot’s name was Schmiedeknecht. He was flying an aircraft marked N46688.
   "Nassau, aircraft number calling Mayday," he reported. He paused for moment. It was silent except for nondescript chatter from other planes. He cued his mike: "Please clear the frequency. We have a Mayday. Go Ahead."
   It was still silent. Schmiedeknecht quickly called Nassau again. They confirmed they had not heard the MAYDAY.
   Although the plane never identified itself and the short message quickly ceased, Nassau’s search of the flight schedule reveals no other missing plane except Spector’s. A fact that makes the location of the SOS more peculiar, for by this time Spector was just technically overdue and could not have been anywhere near where Schmiedeknecht was.
     Presently, he was descending into the airport at George Town on Great Exuma, the largest island of the Exuma cays over 100 miles southeast of Nassau, far past Spector’s terminal destination. He pulled out of his approach and climbed quickly back up to 8,300 feet to try and raise the plane again, in the meantime telling the pilot of a Aerostar who was cutting in to "Please stay off the frequency. We have a Mayday."
   Then, cueing his mike, he called: "Aircraft on Mayday, call 688." He tried again seconds later: "Aircraft going in the water please call 688."
   But there was only silence. He waited; once again there was only silence. A while later the typical routine chatter from other pilots started up again and, frustrated, he came in to land at George Town.
     Within 30 minutes BASRA {Bahamian Air-Sea Rescue Association) and the US Coast Guard were starting to nose around the cays for any sign of the mystery plane, although there was still no idea whose plane it was.
   Spector’s party must not even have been suspected yet, since it was logically impossible for the flight to be nearer to Great Exuma than Nassau. According to Schmiedeknecht’s message, the pilot inferred he was going down, for whatever reason. Then the dialogue was suddenly halted, either by a sudden power outage or impact with the sea or, as the next clues suggest, it receded further away, out of reach.