The story
The Beechcraft C-45 Expeditor was a twin-engine American training aircraft used during and after World War II. On September 11, 1952, while on a training flight from Bedford, Massachusetts to Griffis Air Force Base in Rome, New York, the aircraft experienced a single engine failure approximately 40 miles southeast of Utica.
Pilot Lt. Col. Charles A. Callahan ordered his crew and passengers — three Air Force officers and two civilians — to bail out at 2,500 feet altitude. All five people parachuted safely. The pilotless aircraft continued flying for approximately one hour and ten minutes on the remaining engine before fuel exhaustion sent it crashing into Lake Ontario off Oswego.
The wreck was discovered in 2014 by Jim Kennard, Roger Pawlowski, and Roland Stevens during a remote sensing survey for shipwrecks. The aircraft is almost totally intact, with only the fiberglass nose cone, vertical stabilizers, and one propeller blade missing. It is the only known aircraft within the sanctuary and sits within recreational diving limits.
