An exploration team discovered the nearly intact remains of an Air Force Beechcraft C-45 on the floor of Lake Ontario, near Oswego, N.Y., the team announced on July 8. On Sept. 11, 1952, the twin-engined light transport suffered a single engine failure on a flight from Bedford, Mass., to the former Griffiss AFB, N.Y. After instructing the four others aboard to bail out, pilot Lt. Col. Charles Callahan set the aircraft’s autopilot on course away from populated areas and bailed out himself, according to discoverer Jim Kennard. Without its passengers and crew, the C-45 gained altitude instead and flew 65 miles before running out of fuel and plunging into Lake Ontario. The five passengers and crew aboard parachuted to safety. “We were amazed to see that the C-45 is almost totally intact,” said Kennard, who found the aircraft using side-scan sonar with his colleague Roger Pawlowski. “This probably explains why no debris could be found” by Air Force and Coast Guard searchers at the time, he added. (See also C-45 factsheet from the National Museum of the US Air Force.)
Airman Charged in M18 Shooting Death Found Dead
Oct. 27, 2025
The Airman arrested in connection with the M18 pistol discharge that killed a fellow member of Air Force security forces on July 20 in Wyoming was found dead earlier this month, an Air Force spokesperson confirmed.
