The single-seat plane, a P-47 Thunderbolt, crashed on a part of the river near where a US Airways commercial jet carrying 155 people splash-landed safely in 2009 in what became known as the Miracle on the Hudson.
A witness to the P-47 Thunderbolt crash, Hunter College student Siqi Li, saw smoke spewing from the plane and thought it was doing a trick.
Scuba divers recovered a body from the submerged plane about three hours later, New York Police Department Detective Michael Debonis said. Police hadn't confirmed the body was that of the pilot, the only person who was aboard the plane.
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