Plane Found At Bottom Of Big Creek Lake

By Debbie Williams Reporter
.

Fisherman are notorious for telling tall tales, but this one is true.  A Semmes man found a plane at the bottom of Big Creek Lake. Plane Found At Bottom Of Big Creek Lake
Published: Tue, March 11, 2008 - 4:29 pm
Debbie Williams
Debbie Williams
Fisherman are notorious for telling tall tales, but this one is true. A Semmes man found a plane at the bottom of Big Creek Lake.

Teddy Shepherd called 9-1-1 to tell them what he had found, "She didn't believe me, I don't believe, she sounded like, yeah right," says Shepherd. That's kind of understandable, considering what, he found. Using side scan sonar, Shepherd found a plane in about 25 feet of water in Big Creek Lake.

"I was looking around for structure, looking around for fish, bait trees just looking." He could hardly believe his eye when a plane appeared on the sonar screen.

The Mobile County Sheriff's Flotilla came to see for themselves and in just a few hours, "It's a single engine Beech craft Sierra it's to early to tell the year," says Mobile County Sheriff's Office spokesperson, Kate Johnson.

Fully intact the plane appears to be resting upside down, divers recovered a wheel and identification numbers. No remains were found inside.

"We're still trying to determine when we're going to remove the plane and who will remove it," says Johnson.

It could be weeks before the plane is removed. Talks are going on between the F.A.A., Mobile County Sheriff's Office and Mobile Area Water and Sewer System to determine who is responsible for the plane


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That’s tragic!  Have to ditch a plane in a lake, survive and then die before being pulled from the water.

Looks like the FAA would have wanted to recover that plane and if not them some insurance company sure should have looked for it.  Interesting…...

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bamabob - From what i remember Doug was returning to Mobile from Meridian, Ms.  He apparently was able to get out of the plane but must have drowned.  We lost contact with his wife after awhile.  We don’t know if he ran out of gas or had engine problems but it appears that he was able to glide it into the water without breaking it apart.  I don’t know the reason that the plane was not removed before now.

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ctate - Sounds like you were right.  Do you remember anything about the crash?  The image of the plane looks like it was in pretty good shape resting at the bottom of the lake.

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The Beech Sierra I found went down in March 1982.

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Has anything been learned about this plane yet?

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Many years ago, around 1981 or 1982, we had a friend, Doug Flint, that crashed into Big Creek Lake.  His body was found but I don’t know if the plane was ever removed from the lake.  There should be records in the Mobile Press Register as the search for him went on for awhiile.

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The only Beech Sierra I can find missing in the Big Creek Lake area has the N-Number of N18878.

That plane was deregistered and another plane now has the number.  So, it is hard to attach a name to the missing plane.

http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/nnumsql.asp?NNumbertxt=18878

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Many years back, Dr. Thomas Stewart flew his plane from Atmore Airport without a flight plan on file.  He went missing… I believe it was New Year’s Day but I don’t remember what year…. Could this be his plane?  He was a Doctor in Century, FL.

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Lost Airplane Locations

LAT LONG DATE MODEL ACFT TYPE TAIL NUMBER REMARKS ST

30 45N 88 15W 28-Mar-82 BE-24R N18878  BIG CREEK LAKE AL AL

http://www.thunting.com/geotech/forums/showthread.php?t=9997

Deregistered Aircraft 1 of 1

Aircraft Description
Serial Number   MC517         Type Registration   Unknown
Manufacturer Name BEECH   Certificate Issue Date None
Model C24R   Mode S Code 50260722
Year Manufacturer None   Cancel Date / / 
Reason for Cancellation Unknown   Exported To

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It was upside down and went unnoticed. Was it a Boeing? lol

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