2 1940s crashed planes in lake havasu need help locating

[camshaw]

the city of lake havasu is offering a reward for location of two planes that crashed into the lake, one crashed in 1960 and sounds like a t6 maybe and then another is mentioned as crashing in 1943? I've searched all over and was wondering what is known about the 1943 crash...Do any wixers have any info on the earlier crash? The later crash says two brothers went nose in at high speed and both were killed, so its a mess...thanks,cam

[Warbirdnerd]

Here is a news story on the search and rewards. Could it be a Mustang wreck from 1960?

The mystery of what happened to wreckage from two decades-old airplane crashes over Lake Havasu is one city officials would like solved.

In the hope of bringing closure — not to mention tourists to the lake —the Lake Havasu City Convention & Visitors Bureau is offering $1,000 to anyone who can track down the wreckage from a 1960 plane crash or one that occurred in 1943.

"Why let any more time go by as these planes continue to be subject to the elements at the bottom of our lake? Why not try to find them now and try to salvage these planes," Visitors Bureau President Doug Traub said.

GPS coordinates and photographic proof are needed to claim the reward, Traub said.

Bud Phillips, a longtime Lake Havasu City resident, was 19 when he witnessed the January 1960 crash. Phillips and two friends were about to go out duck hunting when they watched the single-engine, World War II-era fighter plane take off.

"These two guys were in the cockpit and they were warming it up," Phillips said.

Phillips said the aircraft made a sharp right turn. That's when something went wrong and the airplane "just nosedived right into the lake." The men drove down to the lake and took a boat out to the crash site.

"We found bubbles and oil slick. There was nothing we could do. All we could do was just look," Phillips said.

The two men were brothers from California who were also on their way to go duck hunting, according to Lake Havasu city officials. Their bodies were recovered, but the plane never was. The incident has become local lore over the years, adding to the mystery of what lies beneath Lake Havasu.

Joel Silverstein, owner of the Lake Havasu City's only instructional diving facility, plans to go on the hunt Monday. He and a four-member crew will start at a spot where one of the planes was known to have departed. Following a grid pattern, they will go back and forth with a proton magnetometer, a device that picks up magnetic signals from iron or steel materials through water. Wherever they get a blip, that is where they will dive in.

For Silverstein, who said he is spending more than $1,000 on the hunt, it's not about the money.

"In some respects it's folly," Silverstein said. "Whenever you find something lost under the sea or under a lake, it's always fun. ... Really, when it comes down to it, if it exists, it will be a great piece for Lake Havasu's history."

The lake has an average depth of 35 feet with the deepest point about 90 feet. Silverstein believes the wreckage crashed in some trees at the bottom or is buried under silt. Silverstein said if he's lucky, any wreckage could be found in a day. But he's also had experiences shipwreck hunting for days and finding nothing.

"If it doesn't exist, it doesn't," Silverstein said. "We'll just keep the rumor going — not that it doesn't exist (but) we just haven't found it yet."

Found it here:
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/loc ... /17985521/

[camshaw]

yep, already found that article, but any details of the planes that went it and crash reports?

[.MAC]

Not sure how reliable the Lake Havasu Convention and Visitor Bureau's information is, but, they say one plane was an AT-6C.
http://blog.golakehavasu.com/help-solve ... d-of-cash/

Last edited by .MAC on Fri Feb 21, 2020 9:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Chris Brame]

The P-40 sounds like this one, courtesy of aviationarchaeology.com:

430804 P-40M 43-5427 BOEF (Bail Out Engine Failure) Into Colorado River, 20 Mi S Parker Dam, AZ

[camshaw]

anybody got the crash report on the p40? hell it sounds like 20 miles south of parker dam? that aint lake havasu folks!!!

[camshaw]

that p40 if it was south of parker dam is long gone as the river gets regulated down to almost a stream when levels are low. its only hope is that it did truthfully go into lake havasu???

[cooper9411]

Wait, what? P-40? Where? I'm in.

[camshaw]

one of the links posted showed a story of a fellow who was contracted to scan all the lake, he said all he found were a couple old boats and no airplanes....but who's to say it didn't just float its way down to the neck of the southern tip of the havasu? we go up there all the time, its quite interesting....wonder the attitude of the crash? a hard nose in and its a mess, a light skip and a bump and a splash and I might just load up the boat....lol..