The remains of an old Colonial Skimmer flying boat that crashed in 1996 in Utah

@ElentirENG ES 3·26·2024 · 23:26 0

As we have seen before, plane accidents in remote places, such as deserts or mountains, usually leave many traces.

The remains of an airplane that crashed in 1952 in Death Valley on a flight for the CIA
Sierra Bermeja: the remains of a 1998 plane crash in a place that is difficult to access

The reason for this is obvious: in these cases, the removal of the wreckage of the accident aircraft can be very expensive, so remains may continue to be found many years after the accident. This is the case of an old Colonial C-1 Skimmer seaplane, N248B. This plane, built in 1956, took off at 8:15 p.m. on July 12, 1996 from Taylor, Arizona, making a refueling stop in Gallup, New Mexico.

The plane was occupied by two people. Two hours after taking off from Taylor, the pilot noticed a loss of power in the engine, probably due to lack of fuel. After flying over Lake Powel, between Arizona and Utah and along the Colorado River, the engine died. The pilot had to make a forced landing. The official accident report states: "The belly of the plane landed and then bounced approximately 15 feet into the air. The plane rolled to the left and landed inverted again.". Fortunately, the two occupants of the plane escaped this accident alive, but the Skimmer was destroyed.

Last month, The Trek Planner published a video showing the remains of that Skimmer, who remain in the desert, in Utah, decades after that accident:

You can see some screenshots of this video here. Here we see the plane's broken wings, on the left, and part of the fuselake, on the right.

Another image of the accident site. First we see the wings and in the background part of the fuselage. The plane's occupants were very lucky to escape alive.

The tail of the plane. Broke and separated from the rest of the fuselage. Interestingly, the stabilizers are still in place.

An image of the interior of the cockpit. Behind it we see the union of the wings with the plane.