DILLIGAF
02-16-2007, 08:15 AM
Missing Plane Discovered
At Lake Mead
BOULDER CITY, NV - The National Park Service (NPS) announced yesterday a submerged PBY Catalina flying boat that crashed 60 years ago in Lake Mead has been located. On October 24, 1949, the Navy PBY-5A Catalina flying boat, converted for civilian use by the Charles Babb Company of Los Angeles, took off from the Boulder City Airport for a test flight. The aircraft was attempting a water landing in the Boulder Basin area of Lake Mead. Unfortunately, the landing gear was still down, causing the plane to flip and burn.
The occupants of the aircraft were pilot Russell Rogers, mechanic Charmen Correa and Clarence Masters, all from Southern California. Boulder City Airport Operator Tom Swift and his associate George Davis were invited to join the group on the test flight. Swift and Masters were thrown clear of the plane; however they never regained consciousness and later died at the hospital. George Davis, the only member of the group that was strapped in his seat, survived the crash but did have a broken leg, cuts and bruises. Rogers and Correa went down with the plane. Body recovery operations were conducted shortly after the crash, but researchers are unable to confirm if the bodies were ever retrieved.
PBY Catalina was the United States Navy designation for an American and Canadian-built flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s. PB stands for Patrol Bomber, with Y being Consolidated Aircrafts manufacturer identification. When used by the military, it could be equipped with depth charges, bombs, torpedoes and .50 caliber machine guns and was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. All weaponry was removed from this aircraft when it was converted for civilian use by the Babb Company.
At Lake Mead
BOULDER CITY, NV - The National Park Service (NPS) announced yesterday a submerged PBY Catalina flying boat that crashed 60 years ago in Lake Mead has been located. On October 24, 1949, the Navy PBY-5A Catalina flying boat, converted for civilian use by the Charles Babb Company of Los Angeles, took off from the Boulder City Airport for a test flight. The aircraft was attempting a water landing in the Boulder Basin area of Lake Mead. Unfortunately, the landing gear was still down, causing the plane to flip and burn.
The occupants of the aircraft were pilot Russell Rogers, mechanic Charmen Correa and Clarence Masters, all from Southern California. Boulder City Airport Operator Tom Swift and his associate George Davis were invited to join the group on the test flight. Swift and Masters were thrown clear of the plane; however they never regained consciousness and later died at the hospital. George Davis, the only member of the group that was strapped in his seat, survived the crash but did have a broken leg, cuts and bruises. Rogers and Correa went down with the plane. Body recovery operations were conducted shortly after the crash, but researchers are unable to confirm if the bodies were ever retrieved.
PBY Catalina was the United States Navy designation for an American and Canadian-built flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s. PB stands for Patrol Bomber, with Y being Consolidated Aircrafts manufacturer identification. When used by the military, it could be equipped with depth charges, bombs, torpedoes and .50 caliber machine guns and was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. All weaponry was removed from this aircraft when it was converted for civilian use by the Babb Company.