'I think he's crashed'

Pilot Joe E. Baker was killed.

In a dramatic recording, an air traffic controller can be heard growing increasingly concerned yesterday after watching the fluctuating altitude of the airplane that would eventually crash in Easton. The controller urges the pilot to maintain his altitude and then loses contact with him and wonders if he has crashed.

"Angel Flight 1-5 Delta, altitude indicates 1,200. Low-altitude alert, climb immediately," the controller says. "Angel Flight 1-5 Delta, climb immediately."

"1-5 Delta's climbing," comes the response.

"Angel Flight 1-5 Delta, maintain 3,000. Say heading," says the controller.

The pilot of the plane gives the controller his heading.

"Angel Flight 1-5 Delta, maintain 3,000. Say heading," the controller repeats a second later. But this time there's silence.

"Angel Flight 1-5 Delta, Boston, your altitude is going up and down. Are you all right, sir?" says the controller, who continues to guide other aircraft in between calls to the plane.

But there's no answer. "Is anyone acknowledging a receipt from that aircraft?" the controller asks.

Talking to another pilot, the controller later says, "Just west of you an airplane has gone off my radar. I think he's crashed."

The controller tells the other pilot, "His altitude went up, down, up, down, and then he disappeared off the radar at really low altitude."

The recording was provided by LiveATC.net, which maintains an archive of such recordings as an educational resource for pilots and air traffic controllers.