Riddle of Plane's Disappearance in 1968 Still Unsolved
Paul Peterson
Daily Mining Gazette
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MIRedridge, MI (US):
As Copper Country mysteries go, the disappearance of a National Center for Atmospheric Research plane 37 years ago remains one of the more intriguing ones.On Oct. 23, 1968, a three-man NCAR research crew embarked in the morning from Madison, Wis., to collect water radiation temperatures in Lake Superior.
The plane made its last contact with the Houghton County Memorial Airport about 12:30 p.m. that sunny fall day.Not long afterward, some residents in the Redridge-Freda area reported seeing a flash in the sky.
The plane and its three occupants were never seen or heard from again. Lester Zinser, a pilot for NCAR in 1968, was involved in the search for the men: Research pilots Gordon Jones and Robert Carew and University of Wisconsin graduate student Velayudh Krishna.Jones and Carew were in their early 40s while Krishna, an Indian national, was in his middle 20s. Zinser, who retired from the NCAR 21 years ago and now resides in Thornton, Colo., said the case remains a puzzle to him.
"It was a very routine flight," said Zinser. "The weather was perfect and there was nothing on board the plane that could have caused (an explosion). I knew Gordon Jones and Robert Carew very well. They were professionals who had done this type of work on numerous occasions. Something went wrong."
Jones and Carew were former military pilots and had conducted the project before. The work was performed at an altitude of approximately 1,000 feet. NCAR spokesmen said their planes only flew the mission when skies were clear and that assignments were called off when fog banks or heavy clouds were present.
The 1968 search, coordinated by a six-member team from NCAR headquarters in Denver, was accomplished with the help of the U.S. Coast Guard. The search team also included deputies from the Houghton County Sheriff's Department.
Oct 24, 2005
Paul Peterson
Daily Mining Gazette
________________
MIRedridge, MI (US):
As Copper Country mysteries go, the disappearance of a National Center for Atmospheric Research plane 37 years ago remains one of the more intriguing ones.On Oct. 23, 1968, a three-man NCAR research crew embarked in the morning from Madison, Wis., to collect water radiation temperatures in Lake Superior.
The plane made its last contact with the Houghton County Memorial Airport about 12:30 p.m. that sunny fall day.Not long afterward, some residents in the Redridge-Freda area reported seeing a flash in the sky.
The plane and its three occupants were never seen or heard from again. Lester Zinser, a pilot for NCAR in 1968, was involved in the search for the men: Research pilots Gordon Jones and Robert Carew and University of Wisconsin graduate student Velayudh Krishna.Jones and Carew were in their early 40s while Krishna, an Indian national, was in his middle 20s. Zinser, who retired from the NCAR 21 years ago and now resides in Thornton, Colo., said the case remains a puzzle to him.
"It was a very routine flight," said Zinser. "The weather was perfect and there was nothing on board the plane that could have caused (an explosion). I knew Gordon Jones and Robert Carew very well. They were professionals who had done this type of work on numerous occasions. Something went wrong."
Jones and Carew were former military pilots and had conducted the project before. The work was performed at an altitude of approximately 1,000 feet. NCAR spokesmen said their planes only flew the mission when skies were clear and that assignments were called off when fog banks or heavy clouds were present.
The 1968 search, coordinated by a six-member team from NCAR headquarters in Denver, was accomplished with the help of the U.S. Coast Guard. The search team also included deputies from the Houghton County Sheriff's Department.
Oct 24, 2005
