A 53-Year-Old Tragic Mystery Appears To Be Solved In Vermont
A more-than-half-a-century-old aviation mystery has almost certainly been solved. On Jan. 27, 1971, Jet Commander N400CP departed from Burlington International Airport in Vermont bound for Providence, Rhode Island. The twinjet…
This image, recorded in May 2024, shows the underwater wreckage of what is almost certainly a Jet Commander that disappeared shortly after takeoff in January 1971 from Burlington, Vermont.
Photo: courtesy of Garry Kozak/AP
A more-than-half-a-century-old aviation mystery has almost certainly been solved. On Jan. 27, 1971, Jet Commander N400CP departed from Burlington International Airport in Vermont bound for Providence, Rhode Island. The twinjet disappeared shortly after takeoff in snowy weather. Over the next several days, nearby Lake Champlain froze over, and despite several widespread searches over the years, no wreckage was found.
On board were two pilots and three employees of a property development company based in Georgia. They were working on a project in the Burlington area. None were ever heard from again.
Last month, an underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) discovered wreckage and recorded images of a jet with evidence of a custom-designed paint scheme that matches that of N400CP in 200 feet of water off near Juniper Island in Lake Champlain. Sonar images show the location is close to the position last reported for the Jet Commander by air traffic control. Garry Kozak, head of the underwater search team, reported on June 11 that he is confident they have found the crashed aircraft. He said, “With all those pieces of evidence, we’re 99% absolutely sure.”
Charles Williams, whose father was one of the passengers on board the jet, told the Associated Press that Kozak was a hero for his efforts to find the Jet Commander. The search had earlier discovered wreckage that turned out to be a military aircraft, but a sonar search last winter revealed further evidence of a debris field that the team determined last month was most likely that of the Jet Commander.
Noting that the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate to confirm whether the wreckage Kozak found is that of his father’s aircraft, Williams told AP, "Whether there is tangible remains—and I hate to say it that way—and worth disturbing, that's a decision that we'll have to figure out later, and part of what we're unpacking now. It's hard when you start to think about that."
Williams and other relatives of the victims plan to hold a memorial service.
