On September 11, 1952, the C-45 was on a routine flight from Bedford, Massachusetts to Griffis Air Force Base near Rome, New York when the left engine began failing about 40 miles southeast of Utica

The C-45 is almost totally intact. The fibreglass nose cone is missing as are the vertical stabilizers. One of the blades of the left propeller broke off and lies nearby on the bottom. Part of the windshield was broken and the left side of the body behind the wing has been torn away.

The C-45, the military version of the Beech Model 18, remained relatively intact after plunging into the lake on Sept. 11, 1952. The aeroplane was abandoned midflight after the left engine failed and all five aboard parachuted to safety. The C-45 travelled another 65 miles after all aboard evacuated before finally crashing into Lake Ontario. Town residents saw a plane circling out over the lake just before it plunged into the water-

The current shipwreck team was quite surprised when the image of an aircraft appeared on their sonar display as it was well beyond the mile offshore as reported by the few eyewitnesses to the crash.