With its engine pulled to shore on Saturday, a plane that sat at the bottom of Lake Muskoka for 74 years is now entirely back on dry land.
On Sunday, Northrop Nomad no. 3521 was being carefully packed up so that it can be shipped on Monday to Trenton, Ont., where it will eventually go on display at the National Air Force Museum.
The Second World War aircraft collided with another plane during a search and rescue mission in 1940. The mid-air crash killed all occupants of both planes – four men in total.
The bodies of the men from the other plane were recovered in 1941, but the Nomad was lost until 2007, when volunteer Matthew Fairbrass discovered the wreckage with sonar.
The bodies of Ted Bates and Peter Campbell, aged 27 and 24 when they died, were finally laid to rest in Guelph, Ont., in 2013.
A team has spent the past 10 days hauling pieces of the plane from the murky depths. Surprisingly, the Nomad’s propeller was still attached.
On Sunday, the Ontario Provincial Police dive team that assisted the Royal Canadian Air Force with the recovery of the plane had a chance to look at the wreckage up close.
“To be able to walk around and actually touch the artifacts,” said Const. Mike Coo, “is very humbling.”
With a report from CTV Barrie’s Mike Walker
