Abecassis rented a brown single-engine 1978 Piper Warrior airplane with light gold trim from Boca Aviation, paying $75 for an hour. He indicated he was going to fly locally and practice touch-and-go landings. He left the ground at 1:35 p. m. He didn't file a flight plan; it wasn't required for flights within a fifty-mile radius. He also didn't bring along emergency equipment such as flares, life jackets or rafts. Abecassis never returned home and has never been heard from again. The airplane had enough fuel to last about four hours flying at 138 miles per hour. The emergency locating transmitter inside can be turned on manually or go off automatically at impact; searchers didn't detect any signals. An extensive search of the ocean turned up no indication of Abecassis or the plane.