Plane From 1965 Folsom Lake Crash Is Likely Found

Technicians think they've spotted wreckage
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 14, 2021 3:30 AM CDT
There May Soon Be Closure for 1965 Folsom Lake Plane Crash
William Heinz parks his vehicle on a newly revealed piece of land due to receding waters at the drought-stricken Folsom Lake in Granite Bay, Calif., Saturday, May 22, 2021.   (AP Photo/Josh Edelson)

On New Year's Day 1965, a Piper Comanche 250 crashed in California's Folsom Lake after a mid-air collision. Now, more than half a century later, El Dorado County technicians think they've finally found the wreckage. Just the pilot's body was recovered; none of the three others on board were ever found, though the brother of one of the victims spent his whole life looking. Now, "it’s right here, we know where it is," one of the technicians tells CBS Sacramento. Low levels at the lake, due to the state's drought, helped them to notice something different as they surveyed the water one day.

And newer technology helped further: Underwater sonar images show an airplane, still intact, that matches the description of the one that crashed. The technicians were testing remotely operated vessels on the lake, using mapping sonar, when they discovered the plane, KRON reports. It will ultimately be up to the Placer County Sheriff's Office whether and how to recover the aircraft. (More California stories.)

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