pATROLMAN PLATO ARVANITIS

PATROLMAN GEORGE BISHOP

AVIATION UNIT

DECEMBER 21, 1967

It was just four days before Christmas in 1967,
when high above ice clad waters near the Manhattan Bridge,
Patrolmen Plato B. Arvanitis and George H. Bishop were both killed,
when their NYPD helicopter fell from the sky without a moment’s warning.

     The patrolmen were flying traffic surveillance when a catastrophic engine failure
caused their aircraft to lose power and impact the frozen East River. 
An underwater search for Patrolman Bishop,
found still strapped in his seat, had endured for 3 long cold months.