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1984 Lucas, Larry 1-27-1984
Topic Started: Jun 6 2008, 06:48 AM (632 Views)
ELL
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FRITCH, Texas (AP) - Investigators have identified two men who were aboard a plane found on a receding, drought-stricken lake in the Texas Panhandle after being missing for 24 years.

Steven Lampe was the pilot of the small, two-seat Beech 77. Larry Lucas was his passenger, officials said.

According to a National Transportation Safety Board report, the 25-year-old pilot and a passenger died in the crash.

The plane and bodies never turned up during a six-day diving search.

Two teens from Fritch were canoeing at the Lake Meredith National Recreation Area when they discovered the wreckage Friday.

National Park Service officials said the discovery was confirmed to be the fuselage the plane.

It went missing during a two-hour flight on Jan. 27, 1984.

Park service personnel have closed the area around the wreckage so they can investigate the site, spokeswoman Rozanna Pfeiffer said.
http://www.kiiitv.com/news/txstatenews/19454799.html



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ELL
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Authorities did not find human remains Thursday in the plane wreckage pulled from Lake Meredith, according to Park Superintendent Cindy Ott-Jones.
The bodies of pilot Steven Lampe and passenger Lary Len Lucas were never found after the plane went missing on Jan. 27, 1984. The plane had departed Tradewind Airport that day for a scheduled two-hour flight. Canoers discovered the submerged plane Friday.

"The bodies could be anywhere," Ott-Jones said. "It's been 24 years. There's been lots of water. There were no witnesses, so we don't even know what happened when the plane hit the water."

The engine compartment, wing struts, seats and tail section of the Beechcraft 77 were recovered using a barge from the Lake Meredith marina at Lake Meredith National Recreation Area. The wreckage will remain in storage at the Hutchinson County Airport in Borger until an aviation professional can examine it.

The pilot's father, William Lampe of Amarillo, said Thursday that he didn't expect officials to find any remains in the wreckage.

"After looking at the crash, it's obvious that their bodies came out (of the plane) whenever it hit," he said.

Sally Boyd, Lampe's sister, said finding any remains wouldn't change anything.

"We don't expect them to find anything," she said. "We wish they had."

The discovery of the crash site has brought closure to the family.

"I'm hopeful that was the end of it," Lampe said of the removal of the wreckage. "I don't know what they could find that would make me feel any different."

Park rangers will return to the site to perform a grid search in the crash area to look for remains and other debris.

Park personnel have not searched the area by hand since Tuesday, Ott-Jones said, because high winds stirring up sand and waves impede the view.

"The wind causes too much turbulence," she said. "It sandblasts you as you go out in the water."

Once the wind dies down, park rangers will search the 2- to 4-foot-deep crash site with gloved hands to pick up small pieces of metal and wreckage.

"We just have to take it day by day with the weather," Ott-Jones said. "We're going to give it one more good search, but that's all we can do right now."

Moore County will handle the examination and identification of any remains found in the lake.

Ott-Jones said she did not believe officials plan to dredge the lake or to search areas other than the crash site.
http://www.amarillo.com/stories/060608/new_10504162.shtml

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http://z10.invisionfree.com/usedtobedoe/in...pic=33646&st=0&
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Witness provides details to wreck


© 2008 The Associated Press

FRITCH, Texas — The pilot of a plane found submerged in a Panhandle lake after 24 years and a passenger were landing the aircraft on ice days before the fatal crash, a witness has told federal investigators.

Earnest Vanover, 84, told a National Transportation Safety Board official last week he saw the Beechcraft 77 landing on the frozen lake just days before the Jan. 27, 1984, crash on Lake Meredith.

"Like boys will, they were running the plane on the ice," Vanover said of pilot Steven Lampe, 25, and passenger Lary Lucas, 23, both of Amarillo.

On the day of the crash, Vanover again saw the plane fly low over the lake. It dropped from sight near Fritch Fortress. As Vanover watched for the plane to fly out of the canyon, he heard an engine roar for several minutes before it went silent.

He didn't think much about it because he heard boats and other engine-powered vehicles on the lake all the time, Vanover said.

A few days later he saw news reports about the missing plane and contacted park rangers.

Vanover speculates ice was too thin to support the plane and its wheel became caught, causing the aircraft to crash in the middle of the lake.

No human remains have been found and a search for them has been suspended pending additional evidence, said NTSB inspector Arnold Scott.

Federal Aviation Administration officials inspected the wreckage last week and found no anomalies. The NTSB report on the probable cause of the crash is pending.

The wreckage was found about three weeks ago when low water levels in Lake Meredith exposed it to canoeists.

It was pulled from the lake a few days later and remains at the Hutchinson County Airport in Borger.

Information from the Amarillo Globe-News, http://www.amarillo.com

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5844373.html
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http://www.newschannel10.com/Global/story.asp?S=9647741

UPDATE: Bones Found in Plane Not Human
Posted: Jan 9, 2009 04:07 PM EST
Updated: Jan 9, 2009 07:48 PM EST

Bones found inside a plane pulled from Lake Meredith this summer, after crashing 25 years ago, have been examined and found not to be human.

The Hutchinson County Sheriff says they found several chips of bones and had them examined by a local doctor.

They have determined the bones are not human, but are unsure what animal the pieces belong to.

Officials with the FAA say the discovery is noted but does not change things.
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