August 03, Marthas Vineyard, Mass. / Long EZ

At about 1230 eastern time, the pilot of a homebuilt Long EZ suffered medical incapacitation and the airplane crashed in the Atlantic Ocean near Marthas Vineyard. The pilot was determined to have died before impact. The pilot was gathering NOAA research data in the purpose-built airplane. He was making low passes over research buoys. The pilot reported no trouble, but another airplane spotted wreckage floating in the water. An autopsy showed the pilot suffered a massive subarachnoid hemorrhage that was too large to determine its origin or its dimension.