West Addison, Vermont – February 18, 1993

On the ice of Lake Champlain

     On the afternoon of February 18, 1993, a Grumman Tiger aircraft took off from Morrisville-Stowe State Airport in Morristown, Vermont, with a lone pilot aboard, bound for Glens Falls, New York.  At 3:30 p.m. the aircraft crashed on the ice of Lake Champlain, about 3/4 of a mile from shore.  (The time was surmised from the plane’s broken dashboard clock.) The impact broke the plane into numerous pieces which were found scattered at the wreck site. The pilot was killed.

     A fisherman later reported seeing the aircraft circling over Lake Champlain, but never heard a crash.  

    No flight plan had been filed by the pilot, so he wasn’t missed when he failed to arrive at his destination, or when he failed to return to Vermont.  No May Day call had been received.  The plane was equipped with an emergency locator transmitter, however its signal wasn’t received until 2:30 a.m the following morning on February 19th.  The crash site was discovered by accident later that morning when two snowmobilers happened up on it at 10:30 a.m. 

    The cause of the crash was believed to be weather related.

     Source:

     Flying Magazine, I Learned About Flying From That, “Don’t Blame The Engine“, By John T. Quinn, No. 691