Judge rules planes to stay at bottom of Sebago

PORTLAND – The two World War II fighter planes resting at the bottom of Sebago Lake and the remains of their pilots will remain undisturbed for now, a federal judge ruled Monday.

Judge George Singal said the U.S. District Court does not have jurisdiction over Sebago Lake, so it cannot decide whether Historic Aircraft Recovery Corp. can salvage the wreckage.

Federal courts have jurisdiction over the admiralty, a set of laws that govern navigable waters such as the oceans and the Great Lakes.

Technically, the aircraft salvage firm sued the wrecked planes themselves in an effort to get the federal court to intervene in Historic Aircraft’s efforts to salvage the two Corsairs from the bottom of the lake in southern Maine. The state and the United Kingdom intervened, asking the federal court to dismiss the salvage firm’s suit.

In his 17-page decision, Singal granted the state’s motion to dismiss and found the United Kingdom’s motion to dismiss moot.

The saga of the aircraft and their pilots began May 16, 1944, when the Corsairs collided in midair over Sebago Lake. The pilots, 2nd Lts. Vaughan Reginald Gill and Raymond Laurence Knott, were both 19 and from Leigh-on-Solent, Hampshire, England, and were among a group of pilots training in Maine. They were presumed dead after the collision.

For decades the crash site attracted little or no attention. That changed in the past 15 to 20 years as side-scan sonar allowed private searchers to locate objects in the depths. Some salvagers claimed to have found the planes but never provided proof.

Last year Alfred Hagen, owner of a construction company and a restaurant in the Philadelphia area, became interested in finding the planes. Hagen, 45, is known as an expert on finding forgotten World War II wrecks, including a wreck in New Guinea involving his uncle.

His partner is well-known “war bird” collector David Tallichet.

Tallichet, an 80-year-old California businessman, flew a B-17 bomber out of London during World War II. He owns Specialty Restaurants Corp. in Anaheim, operator of a national chain of 35 restaurants, and is said to have the world’s eighth-largest private collection of restored fighters and bombers.

The Corsair reportedly found in June is standing on its nose on the lake floor, apparently weighted down by the engine. Its wings are no longer attached to the fuselage. It’s not clear if the second Corsair is intact or even if it has been located.

In June, Earle G. Shettleworth Jr., director of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, declared the site protected for 10 years and said it is illegal to disturb the lake bed or take artifacts from the site without a permit.

Shettleworth also said the site where the two propeller-driven training fighters crashed qualifies for a National Register of Historic Places designation.

The Royal Navy did not want the sites to be disturbed because it considers them graves.

Singal’s decision Monday appeared to make the issue whether the planes can be salvaged a state rather than federal matter.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.