REPUBLIC RC-3 SEABEE # 772

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AIRCRAFT DATA

Search Resumes for Lost Plane

     HOUGHTON — (AP) — An air-sea search resumed today for a chartered plane missing with three passengers and a pilot on a flight here from Isle Royal in Lake Superior.
     Coast guard officials said an air-sea rescue plane left Traverse City early this morning to cover the route the missing plane would have followed for the 50-mile trip from the island to the Upper Peninsula mainland.
     The plane, operated by the Isle Royal Air Service Co., was piloted by Don Terco, of Hancock, Mich.
     The missing passengers were identified by the coast guard as: Miss Lillian Lietz, Ypsilanti. Mrs. Clara Powell, Flat Rock. John Nordman, Ann Arbor.
     Company officials said the plane left Isle Royal Friday afternoon. A fog bank hovered between the island and the mainland when the plane took off. The coast guard said the fog bank still prevailed this morning and was expected to handicap searchers.
     However, the lake was reported calm and authorities said the plane could easily ride until found if it was able to make a safe landing.

[The Ludington Daily News; Ludington, Michigan, Saturday, July 12, 1952]

Hope Fades for Missing Seaplane

     HOUGHTON, Mich. (AP) - Hope virtually was abandoned today for four persons missing on a seaplane that disappeared Friday between Isle Royale and the mainland. Three days and two nights of searching in Lake Superior uncovered no trace of the plane.
     The Coast Guard today ordered the cutter Woodrush and a 83-fooler back to their home port of Duluth. Minn., but instructed them to continue their search en route, especially along the Apostle Islands.
     The plane, owned by the Isle Royale Air Service, was piloted by Don Terco, of Hancock, Mich. He carried three passengers: John J. Nordman, 50, a farmer living near Ann Arbor, and his two sisters, Mrs. Lillian Seitz, 61, of Ypsilanti, and Mrs. Clara Powell, 53, of Flat Rock.
     Nordman and his sisters had been vacationing in northern Michigan.
     The plane vanished over the fog shrouded lake after taking off from Isle Royale, about 60 miles away. It was equipped with pontoons and at first hope was expressed that it possibly had landed safely on the water.

[The Rhinelander Daily News; Rhinelander, Wis., Monday Evening, July 14, 1952]

Lost Plane's Seat Cushion Picked Up

     HOUGHTON, Mich., (AP) — A seat cushion believed to be from a missing seaplane was found in Lake Superior Friday, 32 miles north of the Portage Canal Coast Guard station .
     The plane, carrying four persons, has been lost since July 11 on a flight between Houghton and Isle Royale.
     Aboard the plane were pilot Don Taro, 30, Toivola, Mich.; John J. Nordman, 50, Ann Arbor, Mich., and his sisters, Mrs. Lillian Seitz, 61, Ypsilanti, Mich., and Mrs. Clara Powell, 53, Flat Rock, Mich.

[Eau Claire; Wisconsin, Sunday Morning, July 20, 1952]

Cancelled from CAA Aircraft Register.

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