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Splashdown!
Near
Sebring Airport, Florida
May 1st,
1981
A Bird of Peace...
In the early morning hours of Friday, May 1st,
1981, a British-built De Havilland DH-104 5A
“Dove”, carrying the FAA registration number of N630H, departed Sebring Airport
in Florida for an unknown destination. Co-owned by Robert Chachin and Robert
Ross, the plane was powered by two 380 horsepower Gipsy Queen 70-2 piston
engines, and had previously served with TAG Airlines, based out of Detroit.
After
takeoff, one of the engines ailed, and the pilot ditched the plane on the swampy
northwestern shore of Lake Istokpoga. But the Miami field office of the National
Transportation Safety Board never had a chance to interview the pilot as to his
experiences during the accident: he fled the scene.
The wreck of
N630H still remains just off the shore of Lake Istokpoga, decorated by colorful
splashes of graffiti.
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