53-year-old mystery of 1971 plane disappearance might finally be solved

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WLNE) — A flight bound for Providence leaving Patrick Leahy International Airport back in 1971 that has never been found may finally have been discovered at the bottom of Lake Champlain.

According to a release sent from an underwater surveying company titled GK Consulting, a small corporate jet took off from what is now called Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport on January 27, 1971.

It was bound for Providence, Rhode Island on a night with freezing temperatures and poor visibility because of blowing snow.

Less than ten miles into the flight, the control tower lost radar and radio contact with the plane over the lake.

It’s never been found, and none of the five people on board have been seen since.

The National Transportation Safety Board have investigated a reported discovery at the bottom of Lake Champlain.

A New Hampshire underwater search expert says he’s 99% sure he and a colleague have found an airplane that crashed more than 50 years ago.

“We went back out a week ago and took a very high-resolution sonar, and there was no doubt we had a crash site,” Gary Kozak said, owner of the firm. He and his team went back and analyzed data back from 1997.

He said they can’t be 100% certain the 1971 crash site is what they found on Saturday because they don’t have the number of the submerged jet.

“How many corporate jets have crashed in Lake Champlain? This is the only one I know,” he said. “How many airplanes have crashed where the old radar information tracked it? How many planes have crashed that had a custom paint job, which was black-red-black striping, on the side of the aircraft?” he said in a statement.