In a plot twist so improbable it could only be real life, experts believe they have discovered the wreckage of a corporate private jet that vanished over 50 years ago in Lake Champlain. The jet, with registration N400CP, disappeared shortly after taking off from Burlington on January 27, 1971 (USA Today and NBC News).

Onboard were pilots Donald Myers and George Nikita and passengers Richard Windsor, Robert Williams, and Frank Wilder. The flight, which disappeared on a snowy evening en route to Providence, Rhode Island, became one of aviation’s enduring mysteries (USA Today and NBC News).

The break in this decades-old cold case came through the dogged efforts of underwater searcher Garry Kozak and his determined team, who ultimately located the wreckage (Fox News, USA Today, and NBC News). Leveraging sonar imaging and an underwater vehicle, they confirmed that the plane’s custom paintwork matched the missing jet.

Despite at least 17 previous searches that ended in disappointment, Kozak’s team finally cracked the case. Using an EdgeTech 4125-P side-scan sonar system, they successfully scanned the lake and located the wreckage (Fox News).

Reflecting on the tragedy, one can only muse on the in-flight movie options back in 1971—could it have been Love Story or Airport? Regardless, the spring of 1971 yielded small but significant clues when debris was found at Shelburne Point, Vermont, although it took over half a century and evolving technology to piece the story together (USA Today).

Captured footage by Kozak showed the plane’s custom paintwork and aircraft engine submerged in the lake’s murky depths, providing definitive proof of its identity (Fox News). Understandably, the families of the victims have mixed emotions about the discovery. For some, it’s a sense of closure; for others, it reopens old wounds (NBC News).

The National Transportation Safety Board is now investigating the newly obtained data regarding the crash (USA Today and NBC News). While everyone awaits more official findings, the discovery closes one of aviation’s most confounding chapters—a story marked by dashed hopes and relentless pursuit.

Ultimately, this episode underscores both the resilience of technology and the unswerving determination of search experts. Whether one’s interest lies in aviation history or long-held mysteries, the discovery in Lake Champlain serves as a sharp reminder of the intersection of human ingenuity and tenacity to bring closure to a mystery spanning over five decades.

For now, families, search teams, and history buffs can find some comfort in knowing this enigma has finally surfaced from the depths of history, even if we may never get that in-flight movie review from 1971 (Fox News).