Cessna 337 Skymaster crash.

[Guy Paris]

N15EM

N.J. couple die after plane crashes off Maine

The Associated Press

Emergency workers have recovered the bodies of a New Jersey couple from the spot where a small plane crashed off the coast of Maine.

The Coast Guard launched a search after air traffic controllers from Brunswick Naval Air Station lost communications and radar contact with the plane at 1:07 p.m. Sunday, 18 miles east of Portland. Rescuers quickly focused on an area where a fuel sheen and debris field were spotted.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Holly Baker says the plane had been flying at 8,000 feet en route from Millinocket, Maine, to Caldwell, N.J. The Coast Guard says Edward and Maryann Mainardi were aboard the aircraft, a Cessna 337 Skymaster. FAA records indicate it was registered to a man in New Jersey.

Joining in the search was a Coast Guard falcon jet, along with vessels from the Coast Guard and state and local responders.