60-Year Hunt for Lake Superior Plane Yields No Clues

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    Research teams searching for the remnants of a plane that crashed into Lake Superior nearly 60 years ago have faced disappointment. Despite their efforts, only natural debris such as logs and rocks were found beneath Michigan’s section of the lake. Team members from Michigan Technological University recently revisited the area by boat, homing in on 16 sonar targets identified last autumn, situated over 200 feet (61 meters) underwater. The comprehensive search employed side-scan sonar alongside other remote technologies.

    “We didn’t uncover any traces of the missing aircraft,” noted Travis White, a research engineer with Michigan Tech’s Great Lakes Research Center. “Nonetheless, our field methods were verified, as we consistently located physical objects at each targeted site.”

    The ill-fated Beechcraft aircraft, piloted by Robert Carew with co-pilot Gordon Jones and graduate student Velayudh Krishna Menon aboard, was on a data-gathering mission for the National Center for Atmospheric Research when it disappeared on October 23, 1968, en route from Madison, Wisconsin, to Lake Superior. Though timeworn seat cushions and fragments of metal have sporadically washed up on the Keweenaw Peninsula’s shores over the decades, both the primary wreckage and the men’s remains remain elusive.

    “There’s little likelihood of finding the aircraft intact,” described Wayne Lusardi, the state’s maritime archaeologist. Efforts last September included deploying an autonomous vessel that collected sonar readings and additional data. After analyzing this information over the intervening winter, the research team, including White and Lusardi, resumed their investigation of Lake Superior.
    “Sadly, the supposed targets were primarily natural formations, consisting of large submerged trees, logs, and rocks,” said White via email.

    The finding of metal cans on the lake’s floor, estimated to be 75 years old, offers “hope that the plane wreckage might still be well-preserved and uncovered,” White explained. As the search continues, funding represents the next hurdle.

    “We may explore crowdfunding as an option to finance future mapping initiatives that might unveil the plane or other historical shipwrecks,” White suggested.

    Last fall’s initial search was spearheaded by the Smart Ships Coalition, a collaboration involving over 60 universities, government entities, corporations, and global organizations, all of whom are centered around advancements in maritime autonomous technologies.