Albert Zeitler Missing Person Case

Mar 08, 2011

Jan 12, 2024

Albert

Zeitler

72

26

70 inches

165 lbs

White / Caucasian

Male

On November 5, 1979, a 26-year-old man from Batavia, New York, named Albert Zeitler, vanished in a tragedy that has left his family with unanswered questions for decades. He was a passenger on a small Cessna 172 aircraft that took off on that fateful day, accompanied by two other men, Richard Phillips and the pilot, Michael Pfaff. The flight was supposed to be a routine trip, but it ended in disaster over the cold waters of Lake Ontario. For those who knew and loved Albert, the day remains a painful memory of loss and uncertainty, a day when a young man with his life ahead of him simply disappeared from the sky. The afternoon of the disappearance was marked by a sudden turn of events. At approximately 1:43 PM, the pilot, Michael Pfaff, sent out a distress signal indicating that the plane was experiencing engine failure. This was the last communication received from the aircraft. Shortly after the distress call, the plane crashed into Lake Ontario. In the immediate aftermath, a search and rescue operation was launched. Miraculously, one of the four occupants, a passenger named Dennis Flattery, was found alive and rescued from the water. However, the extensive search efforts that followed failed to locate Albert Zeitler, Richard Phillips, or Michael Pfaff. The days turned into weeks, and with no sign of the three missing men or the wreckage of the Cessna 172, the hope of finding them alive began to fade. The plane is believed to have settled on the bottom of Lake Ontario, its exact location a mystery to this day. In 1980, with no body recovered, Albert Zeitler was legally declared deceased, a painful necessity for his grieving family. The case officially remains a missing person investigation, a cold file that holds the story of three men who took a flight and never returned. The disappearance of Albert Zeitler, along with Richard Phillips and Michael Pfaff, serves as a somber reminder of the unforgiving power of nature and the enduring pain of a loss without closure.

Nov 05, 1979

Batavia

New York

Genesee County

9769

New York State Police - Batavia

Batavia

New York

Genesee County

14020

Brian Howard

Senior Investigator

Troop A Headquarters, New York

5853446223

State

Law Enforcement

AHQT8486

New York State Police - Batavia

Brown

Green

Green

08/29/2026