WWII era plane crash investigation at Goose Lake October 8, 2014 by Lake County Examiner Much has been said concerning the lore of the two or three trainer Navy planes that crashed in Goose Lake in 1945. There has been no official U.S. Navy personnel, Mjr. Bartholomew and Stroh examine a supposed practice bombshell from the Lakeview military training base. U.S. Navy personnel, Mjr. Bartholomew and Stroh examine a supposed practice bombshell from the Lakeview military training base. investigation or recovery conducted before Lake County Search and Rescue took the responsibility to document the remnants that are now visible on the lake bed. The search commenced on Friday, Oct. 3. Bill Carpenter, Lake County resident who reported to authorities recent looting of the debris having seen suspicious activity near the site, was the navigator of the documenting effort. He was accompanied by Lake County Deputy Sheriff Chuck Pore, retired Modoc Srgt. Sheriff Michael Crutcher, Search and Rescue employee Junior Gabriel, and four military personnel from the United States Navy. Pore said that the State Police are involved in the investigation but a crew from the force could not make it. Using ATVs the group weaved through the barren lake searching for any remnants of the rumored crash sites. They were successful in finding a 200-by-500 foot field that made up various parts of a supposed TBF Avenger, a WWII Navy torpedo bomber, that crashed on June 19, 1945, killing two of the occupants, a pilot and radioman. Although it is rumored to be more than one crash, this is the only one confirmed at this time. There were upwards of 50-75 pieces of debris in the field. Parts found included basic sheet metal from the exterior of the plane, a piece of the landing gear, a large part of a folding wing that still had text on it albeit unreadable, a back section where the gunner sat and even the shell of a practice bomb among many other artifacts. A major reason why there has not been a formal law enforcement investigation of these historical findings is that the dry weather has permitted comfortable travel about the lake, which is also a probable reason for the looting. It is reported that one of these lootings was the theft of an engine of one of the historic planes, which supposedly made its way to Klamath Recycling in Klamath Falls. Deputy Pore found the hole that held the engine before it was taken off of the property about two to five miles away from the debris field. Investigation of the whereabouts is still underway. Around the hole were bones that Pore said could have been either human or animal. They were left at the location for further investigation. As Deputy Pore looked out on the field, he expressed his feelings about the scene. “It’s emotional. It really is because you know somewhere around here they died,” he said. He continued saying that he was amazed about the amount of debris they were finding and that he was fairly certain there was even more underneath. Following the basic investigations and documenting the coordinates of the site, Deputy Pore plans on writing a synopsis to the Navy department to the doctor who is handling the archeological input and another report emphasizing the loss to criminal investigations. He also expressed that he would like to see a fleet of ATVs cover and document the entirety of the Goose Lake in one go
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 18:13:13 +0000
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