Authorities maintained that search was still underway for the single-engine six-seater plane, but with every passing hour, gloom spread over the country's political and social spectrum. JFK Jr, as the Kennedy scion is widely known, was flying from a New Jersey airport to Martha's Vineyard, haven of the rich and famous, for the wedding of his cousin, the daughter of his uncle Robert F Kennedy (who was also assassinated in 1968 while running for President). JFK Jr was accompanied by his wife Carolyn Bessette, her sister and another person, authorities said.

Initial accounts said the small Piper Saratoga plane disappeared over Long Island, just off New York/New Jersey, and an area where a TWA Jumbo Jet crashed on exactly the same day threeyears ago. Some other accounts said the aircraft was last seen making the approach to Martha's Vineyard.

In either event, the loss of the young and vibrant Kennedy heir -- the American equivalent of the Diana tragedy -- would compound the aura of mystique and tragedy that surrounds the family. Both John F Kennedy and his brother Robert F Kennedy fell to assassin's bullets, while numerous other mishaps have haunted the family.

JFK Jr is considered the most Kennedyesque of the heirs -- an engaging and handsome clone of his father who was one of America's most popular presidents. The world's first exposure to the junior Kennedy came in 1963 when as a child of three, he stood beside his widowed mother Jacqueline and made a heart-tugging salute at his father's funeral cortege.

As a young man, he abjured publicity but not public life. Although he forsook a political role, unlike first cousin John who went on to become a Congressman, JFK Jr has launched and edited since 1995 a widely acclaimed politicalmagazine called George. An intensely private individual, JFK Jr was considered the most eligible bachelor in the US for years till he suddenly and secretively married girlfriend Carolyn Bessette in 1996.