Identified! NV - Lovelock, Plane wreck, possible human bone - May'11

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PLACERVILLE, CA - A Placerville man riding a dirt bike in the Nevada desert discovered what he believes to be the wreckage of a small jet plane.

...

The former Vietnam-era Air Force mechanic identified one of the pieces as a jet turbine blade. Another part is stamped with the name "LEAR." One of the aircraft components Prince showed carried a legible serial number.

All of the parts are extremely weathered, and some appeared to show evidence of fire.

...

He also recovered a large bone near the wreckage that is roughly the size and shape of the bone in the human forearm. Prince said the bone crumbled when he picked it up.

Read More:

http://www.news10.net/news/article/...n-finds-plane-wreckage-possible-human-remains
 
Ok, is it just me or is it odd someone stumbles across what he believes to be the wreckage of an aircraft with possible human remains and instead of contacting the authorities to investigate and possibly id a missing person or missing servicemen loads the wreckage up in his motorcycle saddle bags to display in his driveway?
 
Ok, is it just me or is it odd someone stumbles across what he believes to be the wreckage of an aircraft with possible human remains and instead of contacting the authorities to investigate and possibly id a missing person or missing servicemen loads the wreckage up in his motorcycle saddle bags to display in his driveway?

I wouldn't say odd... brainless seems more appropriate but there are lots of people thinking like that in that area. He looks like a character too. [Update: and that picture of his buddy taken in the hole brings excellent proof I would say] Probably thought he would save a 3hr bumpy ride to investigators by bringing the stuff over :banghead:

I'm confused by the location... is it Lovelock, CA or NV? It says Nevada desert.

Is there a website or resource for missing airplanes?
 
There is a lovelock ca outside of Chico, but they also mention placerville.
 
There is a lovelock ca outside of Chico, but they also mention placerville.

The man who found the wreckage lives in Placerville, and the article indicates Placerville because that is where the reporter met with him.

According to the article, the wreckage was found "about 30 miles northwest of Lovelock". Looking at a map, that description seems a little strange if it was Lovelock CA, because if you plot out a spot about 30 miles NW of Lovelock CA, there are many other small towns that are closer, and there don't appear to be any dry lake beds there. It's mostly mountains.

Lovelock CA map - Google Maps

I would say it's probably Lovelock Nevada. There are many dry lakes in the area 30 miles NW of there, and no other cities or towns that are closer.

Lovelock NV - Google Maps

ETA: I just PM'd the mod to revise the thread title.
 
I just watched the newsclip again, and it includes a map. It's definitely Lovelock NV.
 
Story from ABC 10 Sacramento.

A few extract from the article:
The wreckage he found is what remains of a Navy F8U-1 fighter jet from the nearby Fallon Naval Air Station that crashed while on gunnery practice in August, 1960, at a loss to the government of just over $1 million.

The Navy pilot ejected safely and was rescued by an Air Force helicopter crew from Reno.

Prince also found a large bone near the wreckage, which happily has no connection to the crash.

[...]

The accident report provides the same map coordinates as Prince reported in what was then known as the Shawave Gunnery Range.

Craig Fuller of Aviation Archaeological Investigation and Research in Rohnert Park said it was common in that era for the military to pick up the larger pieces of aircraft wreckage and leave the smaller components behind.

[...]

An inquiry later determined the jet engine failed as a result of fuel starvation because Fortner [the pilot] had failed to manually switch tanks.

The Navy had previously recognized the manual fuel switch as a shortcoming with the F8U and had already begun installing a low-fuel warning light in them.
 

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