OSWEGO PALLADIUM-TIMES, FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 1944

DISABLED PLANE FALLS INTO LAKE

AIRCRAFT BELIEVED CANADIAN TRAINER, PLUNGES INTO WATER NEAR MONTARIO POINT; FATE OF CREW UNKNOWN

A disabled yellowish brown airplane, possibly a Canadian training plane, fell into Lake Ontario, near Montario Point, 14 miles Northwest of Pulaski, Friday afternoon about 2 o'clock, according to information received by the Palladium-times. An explosion was heard following the crash but the plane remained afloat for a short time after the blast before sinking in 60 to 70 feet of water. Boats put out immediately from Montario Point but no information had come from the craft at the time the message was sent. The scene of the crash is said to be about one half mile off Montario Point, and about on the line of Oswego and Jefferson counties. The U.S. Coast Guard at Oswego was notified and a boat was sent to the scene this afternoon.

According to information received at the Palladium-Times the plane was heard off the point, shortly before the accident, the motor skipping and the ship apparently in trouble. As it neared the shore the plane plummeted into the water and floated for a short time before the explosion was heard which sent it to the bottom.

Visibility over the lake was poor due to a thick haze, and the rescue boats were not clearly distinguishable from the northerly end of Sandy Pond where the reports came from. Some observers report seeing an object on the wing of the plane that might have been a man, but they could not be certain.

Reason for believing the plane was a single-engined Canadian Trainer was because of the color markings of yellowish brown, as this type of plane has often been seen over Pulaski and vicinity, it was said.

BULLETIN

Later information received by the Palladium-Times, just at press time, was that the plane was gray, with orange markings, having a white star on the tail. It entered the water at a point about one and one-half miles southwest of Montario Point and three-quarters of a mile north-west of the channel leading to Sandy Pond. Observers are of the opinion that the plane is resting on a bar in comparatively shallow water, between 20 and 25 feet in depth.

OSWEGO PALLADIUM-TIMES, SATURDAY, JUNE 24, 1944

SYRACUSE PLANE CRASHED IN LAKE; PILOTS RESCUED

RESIDENTS OF VICINITY WENT TO THEIR AID IN FAST MOTOR BOAT

PULASKI- Two Army airmen, Second Lieutenants Frederick Frenger of Los Angeles, pilot and Curtiss L. Aultmann of Lynhaven, Fla., co-pilot, had narrow escapes from death Friday afternoon about 2 o'clock when their big C-47 transport plane crashed had sank in the waters of Lake Ontario about one-half mile west of the Sandy Pond outlet, near the Oswego-Jefferson county line. Escaping from the plane and taking to the water before the big ship sank, they were picked up in a motorboat from Green's Point, Sandy Pond, manned by Mr. and Mrs. Elwin Kast, Milford Tifft, Christine and Faith Sawyer, and Clairene Greene, all residents of the vicinity. The party had seen the plane crash in the lake and had taken a fast motorboat from Greene's Point out into the lake where they found the two men swimming toward shore.

First report of the crash came from Montario Point, just north of Sandy Pond. Cottagers had in a heavy mist, flying south a half mile off shore, very near the water and apparently having engine trouble. About one and one-half miles southwest of the Point the plane hit the surface of the lake, throwing up a huge column of spray and with a noise which led some of the spectators to believe it had exploded. it remained afloat for from 15 to 20 minutes and then went down, nose first, with the tail rising high out of the lake. Boats put out immediately after the crash but on reaching the point where the plane had disappeared, found no trace of the occupants, leading to the early report that all had perished. The long hanging mist had completely concealed the men as they swam away from the plane and the rescue boat had also been unseen.

A report from the Syracuse airport officials indicated the plane had been on a routine training trip. Officers from the airport were making an investigation Saturday to see if the plane or parts of it could be salvaged. The indistinctness of the plane as it passed Montario Point had caused many to describe it as yellowish in color, leading to a belief it was a Canadian training plane many of which are seen almost daily along the shore line.

COAST GUARD MAKES SEARCH

A detail of Coast Guardsmen from the Oswego Coast Guard base, Lieut. Joseph N. Hebert commanding, went to the scene in a power boat today to search for the C-47 transport plane which crashed in Lake Ontario, half a mile west of Sandy Pond outlet, at 2 o'clock Friday afternoon. In less than an hour after the plane crashed the Oswego Coast Guard Station was notified from Pulaski. A detail was immediately sent out by Lieut. Hebert, but the Coast Guardsmen never reached the scene for the reason that they were given the wrong location, it was explained by the officer.

At noon Saturday the Coast Guard Detail again left for the run across Mexico Bay to Montario where the big two-engined plane is said to have dropped into the water after the motors had become disabled. At a late hour this afternoon Lieut. Hebert said he had received no word from his men and that he had no information as to whether or not they had been successful in locating the transport machine.

OSWEGO PALLADIUM-TIMES, MONDAY, JUNE 26, 1944

SEARCH RESUMED BY COAST GUARD FOR LOST PLANE

LARGE TRANSPORT MAY BE FARTHER OUT IN LAKE THAN FIRST BELIEVED.

A detail from the Oswego Coast Guard base Monday resumed the search for the C-47 transport plane from the Syracuse Army Air Base which plunged into Lake Ontario, half mile west of Sandy Pond outlet at 2 o'clock Friday afternoon after which the pilot and co-pilot comprising the two man crew, were rescued from the icy waters of the lake.

Lieut. Joseph N. Hebert commanding the Oswego Coast Guard base, said that coast-guardsmen spent considerable time at the scene Sunday putting up markers to aid in the search. The markers will make it possible for the Coast Guardsmen to cover every foot of the lake where the plane is believed to have sunk, thereby eliminating the danger of repeated covering of the surface of the lake by the patrol boats.

The water at the point where the plane fell was reported to be about 25 feet deep. But the fact that the big transport carrier has not been found has caused Lieut. Hebert to believe that it went down in much deeper water, and probably further distance from shore.

Lieut. Frederick Frenger, air transport pilot, and Lieut. Curtiss L. Aultman who comprised the crew, are convalescing in their rooms in the hospital in the Syracuse Army Air Base. The flyers had been in the water more than half an hour before they were rescued by a party led by Mr. and Mrs. Elwin Kast of Mannsville, who went to their aid in a power boat. At the time of the accident the plane was flying low. They were on a low altitude navigation training flight, Lieut. Frenger stated. "The right engine cut out - that's all I remember," explained Lt. Frenger.

With Lt. Aultman at the controls, the men fought to gain altitude with only one engine, but is was impossible. "So we ditched it, with the tail low," Lt. Frenger continued. In about 10 minutes, the plane nosed under. The men were about a quarter-mile from shore, off the Sandy Pond peninsula. They heard boats, and shouted, but none came near. They ripped off their shoes, and Lt. Aultman unzipped his summer flying suit and kicked it off. half-stunned by the terrific impact when the plane hit the water, they struggled towards the distant shoreline. Lt. Frenger was uninjured except for shock; Lt. Aultman was cut on the scalp and blood trickled down his face.

Lt. Frenger, 25, whose home is in Los Angeles, enlisted in March, 1941, and received his commission and the silver wings of a pilot June 30, 1943. Lt. Aultman, 22, of Lynhaven, Fla., entered service Feb. 1, 1943, and was commissioned in April, 1944.

SEARCH CONTINUES

COAST GUARD DETAIL HUNTS FOR TRANSPORT PLANE, LOST IN LAKE

Search for the C-47 transport plane from th Syracuse Army Air Base, which crashed into Lake Ontario off Montario Point last Friday afternoon, was continued Tuesday by a detail from the Oswego Coast Guard Base. Coast Guardsmen have been at the scene for the last three days, but nothing has been found that would indicate the position of the sunken airplane, according to Lieut. Joseph N. Hebert, commanding the Oswego Coast Guard Base.

Every foot of the lake in the locality in which the big transport plane made its disappearance after one of its motors failed in a low altitude flight, will be covered, the Coast Guard commander said. He indicated that the search would be continued until the submerged ship is found.

FIND OBJECT SUBMERGED IN LAKE

A submerged object which may be the C-47 transport plane from the Syracuse Army airbase which crashed into Lake Ontario last Friday afternoon when it became disabled while on a low altitude flight, was encountered by a detail from the Oswego Coast Guard Base searching for the lost plane Tuesday afternoon. Grapples used by the Coast Guardsmen in a power lifeboat in searching off Montario Point, hooked into a heavy object. The powerboat dragged the object along the lake floor from deep water toward shore where it stuck in mud and water 18 feet deep. Conditions of the lake at the scene of operations were such that the searchers were unable to determine whether the object was the lost plane.

The Coast Guard detail returned to the scene again Wednesday where they were to meet Lieut. Frederick Frenger, air transport pilot and Lieut. Curtiss L. Aultman who comprised the crew of the transport plane when it became disabled and crashed into the lake. The two Air Corps officers succeeded in getting out of the plane as it began to sink and were rescued by a man and his wife who went to their assistance in a rowboat after they had swam half a mile in the icy Lake Ontario Water.

OSWEGO PALLADIUM-TIMES, THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 1944

OBJECT FOUND IN LAKE NOT PLANE

COAST GUARD DETAIL CONTINUES SEARCH FOR TRANSPORT AT MONTARIO POINT.

A detail of Coast guardsmen from the Oswego Coast Guard base was at Montario Point Thursday continuing the search for the C-47 transport plane which crashed into Lake Ontario there after a motor failed while on a routine flight from the Syracuse Air Base, nearly a week ago. A submerged object which the Coast Guardsmen hooked into while searching at the scene Tuesday turned out to be a log or stone. It was hauled in from deep water toward shore where the water was 18 feet deep. The Coast Guardsmen yesterday concluded definitely that the object was no part of the missing plane.

Lieut. Joseph N. Hebert, Commanding the Oswego Coast Guard Base, stated Thursday that there was no doubt but that the plane would be found. He indicated that the Coast Guard search would be continued until the plane has been located.

OSWEGO PALLADIUM-TIMES, WEDNESDAY, JULY 5, 1944

COAST GUARD CONTINUES HUNT FOR LOST PLANE

Search for the missing C-47 transport plane, attached to the Syracuse Army Air Base, which plunged into Lake Ontario off Montario Point on June 23, after a motor stopped, is being continued by the Coast Guard.

Two Coast Guard details, one from Oswego and the other from Galloup Island station, are on the scene dragging the lake and making soundings in an effort to locate the missing plane. Lieut. Joseph N. Hebert, commanding the Oswego Coast Guard base, said the search would be continued indefinitely.

OSWEGO PALLADIUM-TIMES, THURSDAY, JULY 6, 1944

GAS TANK FOUND

FAIR HAVEN- While Walter Phillips and Robert Griggs were sailing on Lake Ontario about a half mile from the lighthouse last week, they discovered an aluminum auxiliary 75 gallon gasoline tank floating. They towed the tank ashore, dumped out 50 gallons of water, then put the tank aboard and brought it into Fair Haven Harbor. The gray colored tank caused considerable excitement and crowds gathered to look at it. The Coast Guard at Oswego was notified and within an hour came and took the tank away.

OSWEGO PALLADIUM-TIMES, MONDAY JULY 10, 1944

ABANDON PLANE HUNT

Search for the C-47 transport plane from the Syracuse Army Air Base, which plunged into Lake Ontario off Montario Point three weeks ago, has been temporarily halted by the U.S. Coast Guard details from the Oswego Coast Guard Base and the Galloup Island station. It will be resumed at the request of the Air Corps, it was stated at the Oswego base this afternoon.