An electromagnetic search of a pond near the Dartmouth Skiway has located a large metal object beneath the melting ice which could be the remains of the Lear Jet reported missing Christmas eve.
The ill-fated jet was downed when Pilots Pat Hayes, 30, of Clinton, CT and Johan Schwartz, 31, of Fairfield, CT, attempted to abort a landing at Lebanon Municipal Airport. The jet disappeared without a trace.
Despite a massive air and ground search by state helicopters and the Fish and Game Department, investigators found no clues to the location of the wreckage. Some investigators concluded that the plane must have crashed into a lake, pond or river in the surrounding area.
A group of Lebanon engineers, T & M Engineers, were hired by the manufacturer of the jet to search three bodies of water on the jet's flight path for evidence of the wreckage using new marine research technology. They located an electromagnetic anomaly in Reservoir Pond, located two miles from the Skiway on the Dorcester Road.
Although the anomaly indicates the presence of a large metal object beneath the ice, Project Manager Jeff Goodrich said it is not clear the object is the missing jet.
"All I know is that as a scientist, I gather information," he said. "at this time we know something unnatural is under there, but we don't exactly know what it is,"
Dangerous ice conditions cut short an attempt by divers to determine the nature of the object.
According to Goodrich, whose involvement in the case began two months ago, a second dive has not been scheduled due to the dangerous conditions that still exist with the ice floats.
In addition to the layer of ice, the pond is made dangerous to divers by snags and submerged tree stumps.
Although the lead remains the strongest that has been reported by the jet manufacturer, many remain doubtful that the remains of the jet are submerged in Reservoir Pond.
According to an announcement on a World Wide Web page maintained by searchers, "it does not appear likely that [the jet] could be in Reservoir Pond considering the fact that we have witnesses who were ice fishing on the pond the next day and residents along the pond did not report any anomaly.
