Looking for Records on an Old Search 1/8/1988

[KASSRCrashResearch]

I am doing some research on a plane that appears to have never been found here in Indiana after going missing shortly after takeoff on January 8, 1988 in Warsaw, Indiana.  Given that I work doing aviation safety research, it is kind of important to me to help return these folks to their families if they have not been found (and in several months of searching, I have found no mention of that happening).  Is there someone I can contact to obtain any records that might exist from the CAP search (assuming there was one)?  Is this handled at the Wing level or at a national one?  Also if anyone knows of anyone who was around at the time of that search, I would really like to talk to them. 

Thank you for your time and assistance.


Stephen

[blackrain]

I am doing some research on a plane that appears to have never been found here in Indiana after going missing shortly after takeoff on January 8, 1988 in Warsaw, Indiana.  Given that I work doing aviation safety research, it is kind of important to me to help return these folks to their families if they have not been found (and in several months of searching, I have found no mention of that happening).  Is there someone I can contact to obtain any records that might exist from the CAP search (assuming there was one)?  Is this handled at the Wing level or at a national one?  Also if anyone knows of anyone who was around at the time of that search, I would really like to talk to them. 

Thank you for your time and assistance.


Stephen

Not sure what information you do have but the NTSB database lists a 172N that disappeared on a trip from Warsaw to Milwaukee on 8JAN1988. The report says the proposed route of flight was over a lake (Lake Michigan it appears )and was presumed to have gone down in the lake. Good luck.....

[a2capt]

These kinds of things tend to get discovered at the least expected time..  Like someone out fishing reels in an odd object .. makes a note of it on the GPS..

[Eclipse]

Unfortunately, this far exceeds the 4 years wings are required to keep mission records, and
occurred during a time when everything was on paper, worse, it was longer ago then most
CAP people stay affiliated with the organization.

As the person who recently scanned all the mission records from Illinois, I can tell you there was nothing
found anywhere near that old, at least in the mission files.

Also, if the presumption on this is it went into the water, especially any more then a mile out, CAP
probably wasn't involved. You might try the Coast Guard.

Wing Historians might also be able to help. You can contact them via information on the website from each wing.
Other then happy accident, Region or NHQ is unlikely to have anything on this.

[Private Investigator]

Also, if the presumption on this is it went into the water, especially any more then a mile out, CAP
probably wasn't involved. You might try the Coast Guard.

Wing Historians might also be able to help. You can contact them via information on the website from each wing.
Other then happy accident, Region or NHQ is unlikely to have anything on this.

As a Wing Historian I get asked once or twice a year re: old missions. Something that is 26 years old is very unlikely.

[DCOPS]

I was a MP on that search.  Contact me at do@natcapwg.cap.gov.

[blackrain]

Please keep us updated on a search.

I saw a NOAA topography chart for that part of Lake Michigan and it shows a depth up to 450 feet or so as a max in that area.

Recently a state law enforcement agency was testing new sonar gear with a resolution good enough to spot individual weapons at the bottom of an admittedly shallow lake so maybe technology has gotten to the point this plane can be found. Same gear solved a couple of 40 plus year old missing person cases by locating 2 cars on the bottom of another lake.

[sardak]

Northwest Airlines Flight 2501, a DC-4, disappeared on a flight over Lake Michigan on June 23, 1950. Although some floating debris and bodies were found, the wreckage has never been located.

For those curious about the search in question, a Google search turned up a few newspaper articles. The missing plane, a C-172, left Canton, OH for Milwaukee, WI with 4 POB. It refueled in Warsaw, Indiana where it departed a little after 6 PM local on Friday, January 8, never to be seen again. The plane was reported missing on Sunday morning. No flight plan was filed and no Sarsat hits were detected. High temperatures Friday were +4 F in Milwaukee, +10 in Chicago and +22 in Indianapolis. Lows Friday night in the same cities were -10, +1 and -1.  Temps were in the low 30s by the end of the following week.

The NTSB report states "a local lakeshore resident reported hearing an airplane strike the water." A newspaper article dated Tuesday, January 12, with a byline of Porter Beach, Indiana has the Indiana CAP spokesman as saying a local resident believes he may have heard a plane crash Friday night. CAP was searching the Indiana National Lakeshore and Indiana Dunes State Park. The same article notes that the Coast Guard was suspending its search after checking the Lake Michigan shoreline and the direct route between Warsaw and Milwaukee.

In a newspaper article a week later, a CAP spokesman said that a boat with sonar belonging to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) was searching Lake Michigan. However, both the Coast Guard and DNR said that none of their boats were searching the lake. Go figure.

I've attached an article from the Milwaukee Journal which interviewed Lt Col Joseph Pate, chief of AFRCC, about the search.

Forgot to mention that in 1992, the NTSB issued several safety recommendations to the FAA and AFRCC for improving SAR, including better and more timely use of radar, even when a flight doesn't have a discrete transponder code. The NTSB used examples of searches from 1988, the year of this search (but not this search), to 1991, where use of radar and improved comms between FAA, AFRCC and the USCG would have been beneficial.

Mike

[KASSRCrashResearch]

Thank you everyone!  By the way, I found a news report that the body of one of the victims was found in October of that year on shore in Porter County so that's another good lead.

[Eclipse]

I've attached an article from the Milwaukee Journal which interviewed Lt Col Joseph Pate, chief of AFRCC, about the search.

Lt Col Pate went on to become the last USAF Liason Officer for ILWG before CAP-USAF changed over to civilian State directors.
He was with the program through the early '00s along with a Liaison NCO.

[KASSRCrashResearch]

Thank you!  I seem to have located him (no pun intended) on Facebook.  I will see if he has any contacts or advice for me. 

[Майор Хаткевич]

See, sometimes CAPtalk is useful!

[KASSRCrashResearch]

Definitely.  If this search my friends and I are considering is successful, I may be back to ask about other GA cases that were never found in the Great Lakes.  Actually, if anyone has some that they worked and would like to share information on, feel free to do it.