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New video shows underwater crash site of long-lost jet

An underwater video taken by an independent researcher shows the shattered wreckage of a long-lost corporate jet that crashed into Lake Champlain more than 50 years ago. Before showing the video to NBC5 News, Colchester resident Gary Lefebvre first showed it to relatives of the crash victims in a private, virtual discussion to help them better understand what happened to their loved ones. The jet plunged into the frigid lake in January 1971 shortly after takeoff from Burlington International Airport. The five men on board, Donald Myers, George Nikita, Frank Wilder, Robert Ransom Williams III and Richard Kirby Windsor, were long presumed dead after their ill-fated business trip to Burlington. But the location of the crash site and the plane's wreckage remained an unsolved mystery for more than half a century. As NBC5 News reported in May, a team of underwater search and recovery experts announced they had found the debris field. The discovery followed several unsuccessful expeditions searching for the wreck. “They always wondered why they didn't find it over the years,” Lefebvre said in an interview with NBC5 News. “To all the researchers who have looked for it in the past: It's a hard site to find. It's very, very well hidden.” NBC5 News has agreed not to disclose the exact location of the wreck to protect the site from potential intruders. After locating it via sonar earlier this year, Lefebvre sent remotely operated underwater vehicles into the depths of the lake to explore what was left of the broken-up jet. Lefebvre also took a series of still images, which he combined using special software to create digital models of what the hull and other components now look like on the lake floor. He showed NBC5 News that you can even see a seatbelt in one of his digital models. The boat's captain said his photos and videos show nothing that stands out to him as evidence of human remains or personal items belonging to the people who set out from Vermont more than 53 years ago but never returned to their families. “It kind of hits me knowing for sure that there are people out there who are affected,” Lefebvre said of the presentation of the video he made to family members of the men believed to have died in the crash. “There are family members who are using this as closure. Hopefully they take something positive out of it.” Kate Stensland, of North Hero, was very close to her uncle George Nikita, the pilot of the doomed plane. “My mother was never the same after George's plane crashed,” Stensland recalled in an interview with NBC5 News. “Never the same again.” Stensland said she never gave up hope, even after more than half a century, that the wreckage would one day be discovered. “He loved his little daughter. He loved his wife. He loved his family,” Stensland said of Nikita. “And the other men had very similar feelings when you talk to the kids.” Stensland said although she doesn't have a physical grave where she can visit her Uncle George, watching Lefebvre's video offered an opportunity to heal. “It made me feel like I could take a deep breath,” Stensland said of the video, adding it inspired her to reflect fondly on old memories. “'I know where you are, and the other guys and everything,' and that was the most important thing. That was the most important thing to me.”Lefebvre said he shared his video with aviation experts who told him that since the wreckage is in a relatively small area, they suspect the plane crashed suddenly, perhaps nose-first. “It must have gone straight down,” Lefebvre said. “What the family members, I guess, really liked is that at least at this point they know that no one was harmed in this thing. This happened very, very quickly and very instantaneously.”There are still many questions about the incident, namely what was going on mechanically with the plane in the minutes before the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board has posted its official report of known facts about the case on this website.The NTSB has also released what it calls a wreckage identification report. Essentially, this document lists the work that was done to verify that the wreckage discovered in Lake Champlain is the plane in question. The agency believes it is.In response to a query from NBC5 News, the NTSB responded Tuesday that no further work was planned on the case.

COLCHESTER, Vermont —

Underwater video from an independent researcher shows the mangled wreckage of a long-lost corporate jet that crashed into Lake Champlain more than five decades ago. Before sharing the video with NBC5 News, Colchester resident Gary Lefebvre first showed it to relatives of the crash victims in a private, virtual discussion to help them better understand what happened to their loved ones.

The plane crashed into the icy lake in January 1971 shortly after takeoff from Burlington International Airport. The five men on board, Donald Myers, George Nikita, Frank Wilder, Robert Ransom Williams III and Richard Kirby Windsor, were long presumed dead after their ill-fated business trip to Burlington. However, the crash site and the wreckage of the plane remained a mystery that remained unsolved for over half a century.

As NBC5 News reported in May, a team of underwater search and recovery experts announced that they had found the debris field. The discovery followed several unsuccessful expeditions to search for the wreckage.

“They've always wondered why they haven't found it over the years,” Lefebvre said in an interview with NBC5 News. “To all the researchers who have looked for it in the past, it's a difficult site to find. It's very, very well hidden.”

NBC5 News has pledged not to disclose the exact location of the wreckage to protect the site from potential intruders. After locating it via sonar earlier this year, Lefebvre sent remotely operated underwater vehicles into the depths of the lake to explore what remains of the broken-up jet.

Lefebvre also took a series of still images, which he used special software to assemble into digital models showing how the hull and other components now lie on the lake floor. He showed NBC5 News that you can even make out a seatbelt in one of his digital models.

The ship's captain said there was nothing in his photos and videos that would stand out to him as evidence of human remains or personal items belonging to the people who set out from Vermont more than 53 years ago but never returned home to their families.

“It kind of hits you when you know there are people out there who are affected,” Lefebvre said of the presentation of the video, which he showed to family members of the men believed to have died in the crash. “There are family members who are using the video to gain closure over the accident. Hopefully they can take something positive out of it.”

Kate Stensland of North Hero was very close to her uncle George Nikita, the pilot of the ill-fated plane.

“My mother was never the same after George's plane crashed,” Stensland recalled in an interview with NBC5 News. “Never the same again.”

Stensland said that even after more than half a century, she had not given up hope that the wreck would one day be discovered.

“He loved his little girl. He loved his wife. He loved his family,” Stensland said of Nikita. “And the other men [on board the plane] had very similar feelings when I spoke to the children.”

Stensland said that although she does not have a physical grave where she can visit her Uncle George, watching Lefebvre's video did not give her a chance to heal.

“It made me feel like I could take a deep breath,” Stensland said of the video, adding that it inspired her to reflect fondly on old memories. “'I know where you are, and the other guys and everything,' and that was the most important thing. That was the most important thing to me.”

Lefebvre said he showed the video to aviation experts who told him that because the wreckage was in a relatively small area, it was believed the plane crashed suddenly, possibly nose first.

“It must have gone straight down,” said Lefebvre. “That is one of the things that the family members, I think, have taken very well, because at least now they know that no one suffered in this. That [crash] happened very, very quickly and very instantly.”

There are still many questions about the incident, particularly about what happened mechanically to the jet in the minutes before the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board has posted its official report on the known facts of the incident on this website.

The NTSB also released what it calls a wreckage identification report. Essentially, this document lists the work done to verify that the wreckage discovered in Lake Champlain is the plane in question. The agency said it believes it is.

In response to a request from NBC5 News, the NTSB responded Tuesday that no further work on the case was planned.

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