A Memorial Hiding in Plane Site - Acadia National Park
We’ve loved our Covid Summer 2020 on Mount Desert Island in Maine. Exploring the history of Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park has been fascinating, but last Sunday we found a sad testimony to the unforgiveness of the terrain and weather in Acadia.
We were hiking the Sargent South Ridge trail from the carriage road to the top of Cedar Swamp Mountain. Upon reaching the summit, we continued about 50 yards further down the north face on an unimproved trail and came across the remaining wreckage of a single engine airplane. The accident happened in 1970.
The pilot, Robert McGaunn of Crockett, Texas, was an Air Force veteran, instrument-rated pilot with an Air Transport rating. At the time he was senior pilot for Aviation Services and delivered aircraft for Piper Aircraft Company in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania.
The plane was a brand new PA-24-260 Piper Comanche, certified in January 1970 and sold to Sudan Interior Mission, a mission organization dedicated to helping the needs of people in sub-Sahara Africa.
On June 30, 1970, McGaunn refueled in Boston and departed Logan International Airport headed for Gander, Newfoundland on a VFR flight plan. The plane was reported missing when it did not arrive in Gander as scheduled. On July 4, the Longview News-Journal reported that “Canadian officials would continue the search for the missing plane, but the U.S. Coast Guard had given up their search,” assuming the plane had been lost at sea.
Three months later, on September 29th, a local pilot flying over Acadia National Park spotted what appeared to be a crash site on Cedar Swamp Mountain. He notified authorities and hiked up to the site.
Incorrectly reported as a twin-engine plane, the Boston Globe carried this news story on October 1, 1970:
“BAR HARBOR, Maine The wreckage of a twin-engine Piper PA-24 missing since June 30 has been found on Cedar Swamp Mountain in Acadia National Park near Northeast Harbor. The pilot was dead in the aircraft. Chief Park Ranger Bob Binnewies said yesterday “The wreckage was spotted Tuesday by a local pilot, Ronald M. Clark, in a wooded area on the mountain. Park officials were notified yesterday.” The pilot was identified as Robert McGaunn of Mt. Pocono, Pa. He was a pilot for Aviation Service Inc. of Lock Haven, Pa.”
The NTSB report of the accident indicates he received an in-person weather briefing at Boston for his route of flight and the actual weather was consistent with his briefing. He encountered low 300 ft. ceilings and 3/4 miles visibility with fog and rain at the time of the accident, well below VFR conditions. The probable cause is listed as collision with trees after “continued VFR flight into adverse weather conditions.”
Finding the little-known wreckage site held mixed emotions and a lot of questions.
Obviously, what were the circumstances that led to him flying into those conditions? Another 50 feet of altitude and he may have cleared the mountain and gone on to his destination.
He was an instrument-rated pilot - why did he choose to continue on a VFR flight as the weather deteriorated rather than ask for an IFR clearance that would have provided him routing and terrain clearance, or better yet, land until the weather improved?
What was Mr. McGaunn like? We know he was married and was a resident of Crockett, Texas but also living in Mt. Pocono, Pennsylvania. He was a 24-year career veteran of the Air Force, serving in World War II and the Korean War. He had ferried several aircraft across the globe to places like London, Geneva, Bangkok and Africa for Piper Aircraft. At the time of his death he had one brother and three sisters. And he is now buried, along with his wife Maxine in Wesley Chapel Cemetery in Crockett.
What did his surviving family go through for those three months of waiting to hear of his fate, and how did their lives change after his death?
And why is the wreckage still there, in a forested area on top of Cedar Swamp Mountain? According to one interview I read from the Bangor Daily News, the National Park Service has never found a pressing need to remove the wreckage - and by not publicizing or maintaining the location, those who discover it tend to respect and preserve the site as an unofficial memorial to 49-year-old Robert McGaunn - an honored veteran who found himself flying a brand new airplane into poor weather conditions on MDI - ultimately experiencing the changing weather and unforgiveness of Acadia National Park.