Military Plane Wreck in Green Lake

[usediver]

has a news video avail. for your viewing pleasure.
!!!!!! UPDATED!!!!!! twice!!!!
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actual video at...http://wcco.dayport.com/launcher/2180/
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Plane Lost in 1958 Believed Found Near Spicer

The wreck of a small military plane -- missing for more than four
decades --
apparently has been found in Green Lake near Spicer, Minnesota.

Anglers using an underwater camera stumbled onto the wreck.

Cory Fladeboe of Willmar says he and two fishing companions were using
an
underwater camera to see why the walleye weren't biting when they
spotted
the plane.

Divers who photographed the plane say its description matches the
Cessna
L-19 Birddog piloted by Captain Richard Carey, a Minnesota National
Guard
member who lived in Willmar. Carey's body was found in the lake two
weeks
after the October 15, 1958, crash.

One of the divers says the plane is in "amazingly good shape."

A Kandiyohi County sheriff's deputy says he doesn't know if the tail
numbers
match the plane lost in 1958. The Federal Aviation Administration and
the
military have been notified.

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Last Updated - 7/6/2004 7:11:18 AM
Scene of 1958 Plane Crash Is Off-Limits to Public Kandiyohi County
Sheriff
Dan Hartog says the scene of a plane crash on Green Lake is considered
an
accident site, even after nearly 46 years. Hartog says there's been a
lot
of interest in the crash site of a small military plane discovered last
week
by fisherman. The plane hit the water in October 1958, killing the
pilot,
National Guard Captain Richard Carey of Willmar. The sheriff says the
crash scene is off-limits to the public until after the Federal
Aviation
Administration and the military complete their investigations.
(Copyright
2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) Last Updated -
7/6/2004
9:27:08 AM

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from star tribune
Last update: July 7, 2004 at 7:13 AM
Previous searches for missing plane came up empty
Tracy Swartz, Star Tribune
July 7, 2004 PLANE0707




A few years back, Al Sing spent much of his free time on central Minnesota's Green Lake looking for the military plane that crashed there in 1958. Based on witness accounts, he hypothesized the plane's path, then used sonar and underwater cameras to sweep the site.

When he thought he had found the spot, Sing dove into the 5,400-acre lake near Spicer. But neither Sing nor any of the other dive crews ever found the plane, which was accidentally discovered Saturday in about 35 feet of water by two men who were having a bad day fishing.

"I've been looking for that for years. I said 'Someday, somebody's going to drop something down right on it,' " said Sing, 54, of New London. "Everybody talked about it. Everybody wanted to try to find it."

A few men have spent parts of several decades hunting for the downed Army plane. They blamed the lake's uneven terrain and misinformation about the crash for their fruitless efforts. These days, however, better technology would seem to guarantee that a plane would not go missing for so many years.

After the Cessna L-19 Birddog went down on Oct. 15, 1958, search teams flew over the lake and used a magnetometer to find the aluminum plane. But the amount of magnetic material in the aircraft is very low, said Ken Anderson, of Emergency Support Services in Minneapolis.

Searchers would drag hooks below the lake's surface, but the hooks would become embedded in the hills at the bottom of the lake, Anderson said. He estimated that search teams lost more than 100 hooks in their efforts.

"That was pretty low-tech," said Anderson, who had searched for the plane 15 times. "But their ability to find that aircraft with the technology of the time was more limited by the number of days they wanted to put into it."

The body of the pilot, National Guard Capt. Richard Carey, of Willmar, was recovered two weeks after the crash. Anderson said many people gave up searching for the aircraft because Carey had been found. Nevertheless, the challenge of finding the plane inspired police officers, divers and others to search Green Lake in the ensuing years. Technology improved over time, with sonar devices better able to determine the lake's terrain and to search some places that couldn't be checked with the less sophisticated equipment.

Lake poses problems

In more recent years, the problems became location and the lake's uneven bottom.

"We started our searches too far out," Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Deputy Mike Roe said. "We had assumed he would be much farther out in the lake."

The plane was discovered in the northwest corner of the lake, in 35 feet of water not too far from the shore. Carey's body was found in the southwest corner of the lake, which had caused searchers to focus their efforts there. Witnesses also gave varying accounts of where they heard the plane crash on that long-ago foggy night, and at least one witness said he had seen the plane hauled from the lake.

One diver heard that story and abandoned his pursuit.

Anderson stopped searching six years ago after a nine-year hunt, in which the topography of Green Lake posed problems. The lake bottom is characterized by hills and valleys, and can be anywhere from 30 to 100 feet deep, he said.

Anderson compared his searches to riding a bicycle among potholes in the street.

"How do you drive through all the potholes and not fall in them?" Anderson asked. "We knew eventually, if I kept coming out there, I could search the whole lake."

Cory Fladeboe, 25, of Willmar and a friend found the plane Saturday when Fladeboe used his underwater camera to find out why the walleye weren't biting. He saw the plane's propeller and spent hours circling the wreckage to get a better view.

The Sheriff's Office has yet to confirm that the discovery is the downed military plane, but Roe, the Kandiyohi County deputy, said he recalls only one plane plunging into Green Lake. If numbers on the plane's tail match Army records, Roe said he hopes to recover the plane and put it in a museum.

Calls to an Army spokesman were not returned Tuesday; Chief Deputy Randy Kveene said that his calls to military officials haven't been returned, either.

"I'm happy that it's found," said Sing, who was making plans to resume his quest "It was a very time-consuming thing. I was basically waiting for retirement so I could spend more time out there."

Tracy Swartz is at tswartz@startribune.com