Plane Crash Archeology

F9Animal · Fri May 20, 2016 7:34 pm

Hey guys and gals. I am certain a few of you have an interest in visiting old crash sites, or perhaps always wondered if visiting one is possible. I have been to a few, and found it fascinating. Has anyone here been to an old crash site, and what did you find?

I have wanted to take a hike outside of Portland Oregon, and visit the crash site of West Coast 956, their first DC-9 that crashed while approaching the airport in the 1960's. I also have dreamed about visiting the Grand Canyon collision between a UA DC-6 and a TWA Connie. I have read a few books and seen pics. Imagine how the goosebumps would rise when finding coins that date back to then? Or finding a watch with the time stopped at the time of the crash?

Another crash that interests me is outside of Vegas. TWA lost a DC-3 with actress Carol Lombard on it. The saloon where her husband waited at is still open, and the crash site is still located on the side of Mt. Potosi. Rumors were that Lombard had a diamond ring that was never found, and people are still looking for it to this day.

Feel free to share some cool websites dedicated to this interest! I found one today that was really interesting! http://www.lostflights.com/

cheeken · Sat May 21, 2016 1:35 am

There a pretty famous DC-3 wreck on the southern coast of Iceland. Here are some of the photos I took during my trip there:

haha took one with my trumpet!

rampbro · Sat May 21, 2016 1:38 am

There's a bunch of sites on Vancouver Island and thereabouts. I've checked out a crash site on Mt. Galiano on Galiano island - I think I was a King Air that came down in the 70s.

There's a somewhat-easily accessible a/c in the vicinity of Tofino - I think WW2 era. There's also a DC4 (?) crash site near Port Hardy.

LAX772LR · Sat May 21, 2016 5:39 am

Quoting F9Animal (Thread starter):
Has anyone here been to an old crash site, and what did you find?

I went to the Concorde crash site for the 10th anniversary.
It was an incredible, but sobering, experience.

The grass at the crash site would still not grow green, due to the amount of fuel that soaked into the ground:

The remains of the hotel that it slammed into:

The memorial at the crash site:

The memorial next to the departing runway at CDG, with bushes in the shape of a Concorde:

LAX772LR · Sat May 21, 2016 5:41 am

That said, for reasons I can't really explain, I've always wanted to visit the crash site of AA191.

Would also like to see the memorial to SR111.

airnorth · Sat May 21, 2016 5:49 am

Thanks for the link, love sites like that, here are a couple more.

http://www.ruudleeuw.com/search116.htm

I have visited this C-47 on a few occasions, in summer and winter, amazing story to go with it.

http://www.dc3dakotahunter.com/blog/...ited-must-see-dramatic-new-photos/

Moose135 · Sat May 21, 2016 6:29 am

A few years back, a friend and I hunted up the wreckage of a US Navy Corsair fighter that had gone down during a training mission after WWII. It crashed into the marshes on the barrier beaches off the south shore of Long Island. The pilot's remains were recovered at the time of the crash, but the wreckage was left behind. It disappeared into the marsh for years, and was finally discovered by duck hunters shortly before we went out there.

I wore an appropriate shirt for the trip.

[Edited 2016-05-20 23:34:04]

F9Animal · Sat May 21, 2016 6:50 am

Quoting cheeken (Reply 1):

There a pretty famous DC-3 wreck on the southern coast of Iceland. Here are some of the photos I took during my trip there:

Awesome!!!

Quoting rampbro (Reply 2):
There's a bunch of sites on Vancouver Island and thereabouts. I've checked out a crash site on Mt. Galiano on Galiano island - I think I was a King Air that came down in the 70s.

There's a somewhat-easily accessible a/c in the vicinity of Tofino - I think WW2 era. There's also a DC4 (?) crash site near Port Hardy.

I will have to check that out for sure!

Quoting LAX772LR (Reply 3):
went to the Concorde crash site for the 10th anniversary.
It was an incredible, but sobering, experience.

Wow, that is amazing! I bet it was an experience. What a great memorial.

Quoting LAX772LR (Reply 4):

That said, for reasons I can't really explain, I've always wanted to visit the crash site of AA191.

Would also like to see the memorial to SR111.

I went to the area where AA191 went down. I was a kid, and I don't recall a memorial near the site. It would be interesting to see what if anything remains there.

I also went to the area where DL 191 went down in DFW. It was sobering to say the least. I also stood in the area where 191 bounced off the freeway. I couldn't find any memorials or anything from that tragedy.

Quoting airnorth (Reply 5):
Thanks for the link, love sites like that, here are a couple more.

http://www.ruudleeuw.com/search116.htm

I have visited this C-47 on a few occasions, in summer and winter, amazing story to go with it.

http://www.dc3dakotahunter.com/blog/...ited-must-see-dramatic-new-photos/

Excellent sites! Thanks for sharing. Some of those are bucket list qualifying!

Thanks for sharing guys. I wouldn't call my interest morbid, but I find it fascinating. Especially when it comes to significant wrecks. I wonder if there is anything left near PDX when the UA DC-8 ran out of fuel and went down? Does anyone know if there is a memorial?

Another big interest I have is the Southern DC-9 flight 242 (I think that was the flight number.) It was the one that tried to land on a highway after losing its engines. Does anyone know if there is a memorial for that one? I also wonder if there are any small parts still, or is it all developed now?

trent1000 · Sat May 21, 2016 1:16 pm

Cultural perceptions of death, disaster and what is considered morbid vary considerably.
Nobody would climb to the site of JL123 on Mt Takamagahara in Gunma Prefecture, Japan to pose for pictures, especially smiling... just as it's inappropriate to take smiling selfies at former Nazi death camps.

BravoOne · Sat May 21, 2016 2:07 pm

I have friends that belong to a wreck chasing group that specializes in military sites. They they get permission to enter a number of ranges north of LAS as well as the Goldwater range down in AZ, Fascinating to see what's out there...besides BIG snakes!

PlymSpotter · Sat May 21, 2016 2:54 pm

Quoting LAX772LR (Reply 3):
The grass at the crash site would still not grow green, due to the amount of fuel that soaked into the ground:

Nice concept, but that's just the colour of many types of common grass. We always think of grass being green, but it spends much of it's cycle in different shades between yellow and even purple.

Dan

F9Animal · Sat May 21, 2016 5:35 pm

Quoting trent1000 (Reply 8):
Cultural perceptions of death, disaster and what is considered morbid vary considerably.
Nobody would climb to the site of JL123 on Mt Takamagahara in Gunma Prefecture, Japan to pose for pictures, especially smiling... just as it's inappropriate to take smiling selfies at former Nazi death camps.

That is a crash site I would give a kidney to see. I don't see it as disrespect. I see it as a need to remember those souls lost. I can't explain how it feels to be standing in the spot of a tragic plane crash. It's somber, gives me goosebumps, and makes me stop for a few minutes. My ears open, and I hear the beauty of birds chirping, wind blowing, and the scents of nature come out. Then, a sorrow comes over me, and the reality I am standing where life ended.

Then comes the curiosity. Walking around, you find coins dated no later than the day the crash happened. A lipstick case that was someone's way of making their lips pretty. A shirt that someone wore, worked hard for, and could have been their favorite. A rudder pedal, likely being pressed during the last moments.

I do not and would never take a single thing from a crash site. I also know most wreckchasers will usually make a memorial if there isn't a memorial.

F9Animal · Sat May 21, 2016 5:41 pm

Quoting Moose135 (Reply 6):
few years back, a friend and I hunted up the wreckage of a US Navy Corsair fighter that had gone down during a training mission after WWII. It crashed into the marshes on the barrier beaches off the south shore of Long Island. The pilot's remains were recovered at the time of the crash, but the wreckage was left behind. It disappeared into the marsh for years, and was finally discovered by duck hunters shortly before we went out there.

That is so cool! From the looks of it, that plane went down hard. Do you have any info on what caused the crash?

Quoting BravoOne (Reply 9):
have friends that belong to a wreck chasing group that specializes in military sites. They they get permission to enter a number of ranges north of LAS as well as the Goldwater range down in AZ, Fascinating to see what's out there...besides BIG snakes!

Snakes...... Nope!!! LOL! Did they go visit TWA 2 that had Carol Lombard on? I hear it's a rough hike, but amazing.

litz · Sat May 21, 2016 6:04 pm

Quoting F9Animal (Reply 7):
Another big interest I have is the Southern DC-9 flight 242 (I think that was the flight number.) It was the one that tried to land on a highway after losing its engines. Does anyone know if there is a memorial for that one? I also wonder if there are any small parts still, or is it all developed now?

There is indeed a memorial .... https://sites.google.com/site/pchistoryorg2/new-hope-plane-crash

I wouldn't expect there to be much (if any) of the plane left, though. This being a populated area, it was all almost assuredly cleared from the site.

An interesting note, the family whose property the plane crashed in front of (and helped many of the survivors) still lives in the same house, as well.

That's a fairly sleepy part of suburbia, so things don't change much there.

highflier92660 · Sat May 21, 2016 6:08 pm

A great topic. Thanks.

http://www.lostflights.com/Grand-Canyon-Aviation/63056-Trans-World/

The mid-air collision over the Grand Canyon on June 30, 1956 between a TWA L-1049A Super Constellation and a United DC-7 is in a very inaccessible area near where the Little Colorado and Colorado rivers merge. For a time I also wanted to do some historic crash archeology until I investigated the logistics.

reffado · Sat May 21, 2016 6:10 pm

I've never thought of this... I've been at the memorial that's in place for JJ 3054 near CGH, but that's about it. I have, however, been playing "archeologist" at old war sites, and found it very interesting.

I doubt there's any such sites for aviation in FL, though. The swamp eats everything!

BravoOne · Sat May 21, 2016 6:17 pm

There is a B29 at the bottom of Lake Meade but it's within the confines of a National Monument so it's off limits Also lots of stuff in Lake Washington. The Nellis Range is littered with all sorts of wrecks.

diverted · Sat May 21, 2016 6:17 pm

Not much to see, but a C-47 Dakota (45-1065) carrying the US ambassador to Canada, Laurence Steinhardt, crashed on my buddy's farm. Every now and then they still come across fragments while tilling. IIRC he's got a section of an engine, MLG, and some cockpit pieces sitting in a barn.

flyingturtle · Sat May 21, 2016 6:22 pm

I live within running distance of the Invicta International Airlines 435 crash site.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invicta_International_Airlines_Flight_435

Last year, we had an exceptionally warm summer. Some mountaineers found a propeller and other wreckage from the famous 1946 crash on a glacier:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1946_C-...trooper_crash_on_the_Gauli_Glacier

David

BravoOne · Sat May 21, 2016 6:23 pm

As I recall there is a B36 in Norther Canada and maybe another on the northern end of Vancouver Island. Can't recall which one, but one of them had a nuke on it when it went down.

rugger · Sat May 21, 2016 7:27 pm

There is a memorial for AA 191. It's in a park a couple of miles away from the crash site, which has been largely redeveloped.

Birdwatching · Sat May 21, 2016 8:11 pm

Quoting reffado (Reply 15):
I doubt there's any such sites for aviation in FL, though. The swamp eats everything!

There is a memorial site for the ValuJet crash somewhere along the Tamiami Trail in the Everglades. I've driven past that spot a couple dozen times.

Soren

EIDL · Sat May 21, 2016 8:46 pm

Have been to the best known of the impact sites for Lockerbie, as I lost two distant relations on the ground there. The site of their house is a small memorial garden for the ground victims, with a much larger memorial for everyone at the town cemetery.

StevenG · Sat May 21, 2016 9:06 pm

Quoting Highflier92660 (Reply 14):
A great topic. Thanks.

http://www.lostflights.com/Grand-Canyon-Aviation/63056-Trans-World/

The mid-air collision over the Grand Canyon on June 30, 1956 between a TWA L-1049A Super Constellation and a United DC-7 is in a very inaccessible area near where the Little Colorado and Colorado rivers merge. For a time I also wanted to do some historic crash archeology until I investigated the logistics.

Nowadays it's probably even more complicated to visit the crash sites, at least from a legal point of view, as the areae has been declared a National Historic Landmark in 2014.
In this official document the exact location has been kept secret or even has been transformed into classified information:
https://www.nps.gov/nhl/news/LC/spring2011/GrandCanyonREDACTED.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1956_Grand_Canyon_mid-air_collision

With so much information and pictures on the internet about the exact locations of both aircraft it appears to be quite useless.

ArmitageShanks · Sat May 21, 2016 9:22 pm

There's a couple places along the Appalachian Trail where you hike near old plane crash sites. You can still find some parts strewn around at a couple of them.

As a kid I remember hiking in Wales and there was an old WW2 piston plane carcass lying in one of the fields we hiked through. Thought that was pretty neat because you could still sit in the cockpit.

Viscount724 · Sun May 22, 2016 2:52 am

The wreckage of a CP DC-6B that crashed after an onboard bomb in a lavatory exploded in July 1965, killing all 52 aboard, still lies in a remote area about 30 km west of 100 Mile House in British Columbia, about 200 miles north of YVR and roughly half way to YXS (Prince George), the first of several stops that day en route to YXY (Whitehorse, Yukon).

Many photos of the wreckage here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostonwhaler/sets/72157606409768825/

It was this aircraft (photo in earlier livery) delivered new to CP in 1953. Leased for about a year 1961-62 to Cunard Eagle Airways.

View Large View Medium
Click here for bigger photo!

Photo © Mel Lawrence

It would have been in this livery (different aircraft) at the time of the crash.

View Large View Medium
Click here for bigger photo!

Photo © Mel Lawrence

[Edited 2016-05-21 20:34:23]

yoni · Sun May 22, 2016 3:32 am

Quoting LAX772LR (Reply 3):

Thank you so much for these pictures. It's very touching. I saw the concorde crashed while travelling in a train with my parents nearby. I still remember the noise impact and the black cloud of smoke. It's still a vivid memory.

SAAFNAV · Sun May 22, 2016 9:17 am

One of my instructors for Aircraft Accident Investigation told the story of how he had to go to all the accident sites.

Since the South African Air Force had a lot of British planes, or planes with British engines and their love of engine casings with Magnesium/Thorium alloys, there were obviously a lot of accident sites contaminated with radio-active particles.

He then had to go to each site, document, measure and clean up the radiation within limits.

Must've been a very interesting, if somber field trip.

WA707atMSP · Sun May 22, 2016 10:03 am

About five years ago, a memorial was placed across the street from where a Northwest Martin 202 crashed into a house in southwest Minneapolis in 1950. Google "Northwest Airlines flight 307" for information about the crash, and the memorial.

The house the Martin 202 hit was destroyed by the crash, but a replacement house was built on the site. It's next to one of the most popular bike trails in the Twin Cities, in a very peaceful area.

cedarjet · Sun May 22, 2016 11:04 am

An Iberia Caravelle crashed in Surrey in the late 1960s, near where my dad lives in Haslemere. There is a clearing which it carved out of the woods. I felt a strong vision of the aftermath of the disaster, could imagine flashing lights of police cars and other emergency services parked up and down the winding countryside lanes nearby.

The most famous site for many wreck chasers is Ermenonville outside Paris where THY981 went in, the DC-10 crash caused by the cargo door coming open and jamming the controls killing 346 in March 1974. There is plenty of pieces left in the forest, when hikers find them they carry them and put them on the memorial. Every so often the authorities clear the pieces away. Gradually the forest is being purged of debris, leaving only smaller and smaller pieces. Nice tradition.

I went to Winnipeg to visit a buddy and he took me to see the Gimli racetrack where Air Canada's large (767 shaped!) glider came down. That was cool.

Another friend of mine who is an Air France historian is keen to visit Guadeloupe because AF crashed two 707s there a few years apart with the loss of all onboard both machines (one was on it's maiden voyage, well the return leg of it anyway, which makes it the only 707 of which there are no photographs in the public domain). Also for the same guy a trip to Santa Maria in the Azores is in the planning, to see the wreck of another 707, actually the last major 707 passenger air disaster to kill a significant number of people, when Independence Air went down in c. 1990 in the process of making a fuel stop carrying a load of Italian tourists to the Caribbean.

I don't think it's morbid, it's part of aviation history. Interesting thread.

N14AZ · Sun May 22, 2016 1:36 pm

I wouldn't claim that I am particularly interested in crash sites. However, last November I visited the lake in Hanoi, in which parts of a B52 fell after being shot down.

B52D 56-0608 Rose 01 by N14AZ, auf Flickr

B52D 56-0608 Rose 01 by N14AZ, auf Flickr

Thread in the military forum: B52 Lake And Museum In Hanoi (by N14AZ Dec 26 2015 in Military Aviation & Space Flight)

TWA772LR · Sun May 22, 2016 8:20 pm

There's some wreckage on Truk in the Pacific of a Air Mike crash in the 1970s, it was a 727. I want to go see that.

Thunderboltdrgn · Sun May 22, 2016 8:37 pm

WWII fighter outside Palau in the Caribbean http://youtu.be/vcI63XQsNlI?t=244

[Edited 2016-05-22 13:37:58]

Armodeen · Sun May 22, 2016 8:54 pm

Quoting TWA772LR (Reply 31):

There's some wreckage on Truk in the Pacific of a Air Mike crash in the 1970s, it was a 727. I want to go see that.

Oh really? I saw plenty of wrecks whilst I was there both on land and in the lagoon (especially in the lagoon) but I was not aware of this accident. Which island is it on I wonder?

Moi diving on a Emily flying boat, Chuuk lagoon:

457798_10150648108237137_1654102423_o

Betty bomber, Chuuk lagoon:

426301_10150632837547137_423384153_n

Bits of an unidentified wreck (I'm guessing a zero) in the jungle that has reclaimed Etten island, Chuuk.

402609_10150632769377137_674647823_n

Quoting Thunderboltdrgn (Reply 32):

WWII fighter outside Palau in the Caribbean http://youtu.be/vcI63XQsNlI?t=244

Saw that too during the same trip

[Edited 2016-05-22 13:59:04]

[Edited 2016-05-22 13:59:25]

TWA772LR · Sun May 22, 2016 10:09 pm

Quoting Armodeen (Reply 33):
Oh really? I saw plenty of wrecks whilst I was there both on land and in the lagoon (especially in the lagoon) but I was not aware of this accident. Which island is it on I wonder?

The same island the airport is. Not too far off the runway in a wooded area.

Great pictures btw!

Viscount724 · Mon May 23, 2016 3:50 am

Quoting Armodeen (Reply 33):
Quoting TWA772LR (Reply 31):

There's some wreckage on Truk in the Pacific of a Air Mike crash in the 1970s, it was a 727. I want to go see that.

Oh really? I saw plenty of wrecks whilst I was there both on land and in the lagoon (especially in the lagoon) but I was not aware of this accident. Which island is it on I wonder?

There was also an Air Micronesia 727 crash on the island of Yap in 1980. Video of the wreckage in the jungle in this thread just a month ago.
1980, Air Micronesia Flight 614 (video Of Wreck) (by Mortyman Apr 5 2016 in Civil Aviation)

I can't find anything about an Air Micronesia crash on Truk, just the one on Yap discussed in the video in the thread above, covered by this summary. Perhaps that's the one you were thinking of.
http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19801121-0

Thunderboltdrgn · Mon May 23, 2016 6:39 am

Easy Elsie's crash site in the Swedish mountains, on a bog named Käimutjegge, near Porjus.

http://www.google.com/maps/place/67%...x0:0x0!8m2!3d67.007411!4d19.732556

There is also a Fokker S 6 crash site in Lake Vättern, near Hästholmen.

LAX772LR · Mon May 23, 2016 7:13 am

Quoting PlymSpotter (Reply 10):
Nice concept, but that's just the colour of many types of common grass.

Hmm, ya think?

Anyway, when patches still wouldn't grow a decade later, and much of what would grow remained sickly brown while all of the surrounding type was green, in the middle of June.... it does tend to lend credence to what the locals, who'd seen it before and after, were saying.

Quoting Birdwatching (Reply 21):
There is a memorial site for the ValuJet crash somewhere along the Tamiami Trail in the Everglades

Interesting. Always wondered if they managed to put something out there.

Quoting yoni (Reply 26):
I saw the concorde crashed while travelling in a train with my parents nearby.

You saw it as it was happening? Wow!

denverdanny · Mon May 23, 2016 3:56 pm

Visited the crash site of United 585 in Colorado Springs. It's in a park/open space. There's a gazebo with a memorial underneath. Since it's slightly off the trail, somewhat removed, there were a number of teens from the nearby neighborhood hanging out under the gazebo. Was peaceful. We didn't really look around the area more. Pretty sure there wasn't anything else to see or find. It was raining lightly too.

This year or next I want to visit a military plane crash site in New England at which my grandfather died. He survived the crash, but the authorities were unaware of the plane's disappearance/crash and didn't find it until sometime later. He died after a few days of waiting for help to arrive. This was all news to some in my family, as my grandma never told the full story to us and it was never talked about. Anyway, have to plan the logistics of getting up there, as well as talk to someone who knows the exact location. Just would like to spend a few moments up there.

TWA772LR · Mon May 23, 2016 4:11 pm

Quoting Viscount724 (Reply 35):
There was also an Air Micronesia 727 crash on the island of Yap in 1980. Video of the wreckage in the jungle in this thread just a month ago.
1980, Air Micronesia Flight 614 (video Of Wreck) (by Mortyman Apr 5 2016 in Civil Aviation)

I can't find anything about an Air Micronesia crash on Truk, just the one on Yap discussed in the video in the thread above, covered by this summary. Perhaps that's the one you were thinking of.
http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19801121-0

You're right, that is what I'm thinking of.

Thunderboltdrgn · Tue May 24, 2016 7:30 am

A few videos of Easy Elsie's crash site:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yRO1iFBmMY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FpLoVdoLdg
http://youtu.be/Xf69e3Nwyek?t=574
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6CDIjPJls0

Zombus · Tue May 24, 2016 8:57 am

When on holiday to Tenerife last year, I went to visit Tenerife Norte one morning. Even though no physical marks on the landscape or so remain, it was a chilling experience. The weather was pretty much like it must've been that dreaded day in '77. Fog, rain, low cloud base. You could hear planes arriving and departing, but you couldn't see them - from the road at least. Took very little to imagine disaster. Eerie.

But for the rest I'm not quite the plane crash enthusiast. It was more an opportunity thing, and in my perception TFN is kind of an aviation landmark.

seat55a · Tue May 24, 2016 9:47 am

Here's a case of a wreck that someone tried to remove but due to outcry it was returned in situ (RNZAF Devon, February 17, 1955)

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post...rts-returned-to-Tararua-crash-site

Numerous other sites in this general area of NZ.

saleya22r · Tue May 24, 2016 11:33 am

When hiking in the mountains above Nice recently I found this:

Rockwell Commander 114 wreck on Puy de Tourrettes near Nice

In July 1980, a Danish registered single-engine plane OY-CAY crashed below the summit of Puy de Tourrettes (1268 m). According www.aviation-safety.net, the pilot survived the crash. There were no passengers. The plane in question was a three-year old Rockwell Commander 114. What exactly happened is not described.

Rockwell 114 cockpit

Rockwell Commander 114 OY-CAY

When exploring the northern side of the same mountain, there was more:

Another wreck on the northern side of Puy de Tourrettes

I have no idea what type of an airplane this is. Any ideas?

michaelg90222 · Tue May 24, 2016 1:08 pm

We were stuck in a traffic jam a few years ago heading to Donnington Racetrack (close to EMA).

There was a plaque on a bridge over the M1 motorway that I noticed. Turns out it was commemorating the Kegworth air disaster (BD92)

http://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/PA-1155137.jpg

I believe there is a full monument in Belfast somewhere.

Not as interesting as finding a DC3 in Iceland for example, but thought provoking nonetheless!

saleya22r · Tue May 24, 2016 2:19 pm

Quoting saleya22r (Reply 43):
In July 1980, a Danish registered single-engine plane OY-CAY

Here's the direct link:
https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=33252
And the plane in happier days:
http://www.oy-reg.dk/billeder/l4285.jpg

peanuts · Tue May 24, 2016 3:04 pm

For some reason I can't get myself to feel guilty anymore for accidentally leaving an empty can of soda/beer near a campground or picnic area. Good grief.
And don't tell me any off these are unrecoverable sites.

litz · Tue May 24, 2016 4:28 pm

Quoting saleya22r (Reply 43):
I have no idea what type of an airplane this is. Any ideas?

Isn't that a different tail number on the last picture (the plane "on the other side") painted on the wing? If so, could it be a mid-air collision?

[Edited 2016-05-24 09:29:03]

saleya22r · Tue May 24, 2016 5:57 pm

Quoting litz (Reply 47):
Isn't that a different tail number on the last picture (the plane "on the other side") painted on the wing? If so, could it be a mid-air collision?

It's one possibility but I don't think so. It looked older than the Rockwell. The registration was unclear, too. You could see just a small part of the letter..O? -OO?? Definitely not an F. In fact, I tried to find the accident report regarding the Rockwell, no success so far. The two wrecks were about 1.1 km (0;7 miles) apart as the crow flies.

Quoting peanuts (Reply 46):

For some reason I can't get myself to feel guilty anymore for accidentally leaving an empty can of soda/beer near a campground or picnic area. Good grief.
And don't tell me any off these are unrecoverable sites.

Nobody cares to remove the wrecks (the engine had disappeared though), I agree it's a shame. But it's only a tip of the iceberg. You see a lot of metal other than airplanes in the terrain, even cars. The Rockwell has been there 36 years. Some parts of the wreck of the AF Super Constellation that crashed under Mont Cimet in 1953 when approaching Nice are still there.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_178

flightless · Tue May 24, 2016 6:48 pm

Reading this thread reminded me of an event from my childhood.

In 1975 I was horseback riding (trying to find where the sheep had gone) and noticed something odd on the ground. I dismounted and found it was a small rectangular gauge, about 5 cm wide by 3 cm high, quite bent, black face with white markings E to F, divided to read in quarters. I looked around, couldn't see any other clues in the vicinity. I slipped it in my pocket.

Later on, I showed it to several people to see if they could give me any hints. One person, the local barber, suggested that it might have been from a plane crash in that area about 10 years earlier. But, with no way to look it up, I was stymied.

Reading this brought the episode to mind... and I found this:

http://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=71730

Very eerie feeling...

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