A small plane that crashed into a Northern California lake with four people aboard after a midair collision 56 years ago may have been found by underwater surveying technology.
The discovery was made in drought-shrunken Folsom Lake when technicians Tyler Atkinson and Jeff Riley of Seafloor Systems were recently testing sonar technology, CBS Sacramento reported Saturday.
“I saw something that was not normal,” Atkinson told the station.
Imagery resembled the Piper Comanche 250 that crashed on New Year’s Day in 1965 after colliding with another small plane that was able to land at an airport.
Remains of the Piper pilot were recovered at the time but the bodies of the three passengers were not found.
A local newspaper account at the time said divers had to work strictly by feel in murky water and weather turned bad, with winds and waves, sfgate.com reported.
Authorities have not said whether the new information will prompt a new investigation, sfgate said.
The lake 25 miles east of Sacramento is currently at just 37% of capacity due to drought.