Whoo-hoo!
The white bird might be the most important missing airplane in history.
[josh gates] no piece of the plane is ever found.
It's like the bermuda triangle of the north east.
[metal detector beeping]
Hey, josh, I got a hit over here.
You got something?
[chichetto] whoa, whoa, whoa.
Oh... [bleep] look at this!
[gates] that's an airplane wreck.
[chichetto] that's an airplane.
[gates] when it comes to exploration,
Some daring pioneers make history
While others shape the future.
In 1927, charles lindbergh becomes the first person
To fly from new york to paris, non-stop
In the spirit of st. Lou.
His feat turns him into a global icon
And charts a course for america's dominance
In commercial air travel.
But history and the future
Were almost very different.
Just two weeks before lindbergh's historic flight
French pilot charles nungess
And navigator francois coli
Attempted the crossing in the opposite direction
Aboard a plane known as l'oiseau blanc,
Or the white bird.
Thousands gather to watch their triumphant landing
In front of the statue of liberty.
Except the plane never arrives.
It vanishes without a trace.
One of the largest search and rescue operations in history
Comes up empty handed.
It was assumed that the white bird
Never made it across the atlantic.
But now, newly discovered evidence
Suggests that it may have reached north america.
One expert is targeting the wilderness of newfoundla
Where a fragment of metal could prove
The plane broke apart in a remote pond.
And another group
Thinks they've tracked the plane's final flight
To a secluded forest in maine.
So prepare for take-off on an historic mission
To discover the fate of a flight
And two heroic pilots
Who dared to change the world.
My name is josh gates.
Hello!
Explorer.
Adventurer.
Amazing.
Help.
And a guy who ends up
In some very strange situations.
Oh... [bleep]
Whoo, that was exciting.
With a degree in archaeology
And a passion for the unexplained.
Yeah!
I travel to the ends of the earth
Investigating the greatest legends in history.
Okay, let's punch it.
This is expedition unkno.
Today we think nothing
Of flying between europe and the united states.
Everyday thousands of planes
Criss cross above the vast waters of the atlantic.
But you have to remember
It was less than a century ago
That this feat, a non-stop flight across the pond,
It had never been accomplished.
And it was something that many people thought
Was downright impossible.
In fact, in 1927,
Very few people ever had the chance
To fly in a biplane.
Today, well, same thing.
There's not many of them left
From the early 20th century.
Whoo-hoo.
Whoo.
In case you're wondering,
Yes, this is me trying not to cry
As we soar above the french countryside.
To find the white bird
We have to understand the era in which she flew.
In 1919, aviation was still highly experimental.
To spark innovation
French-american hotel mogul, raymond orteig,
Offered up the orteig prize $25,000 to the first aviato
To travel non-stop between new york and paris.
By 1927, five teams had made attempts.
All failed in test trials
Or during take-off,
With planes too heavy for the journey.
Four pilots already lay dead.
The white bird was based on the levasseur pl 4 reconnaissance biplane
But was extensively modified
The wings were lengthened.
The fuselage was widened and reinforced,
Creating enough room for the pilots
To sit side by side.
The landing gear was designed to detach,
Saving weight but forcing the plane to land on water.
Meanwhile, three fuel tanks
Carrying a little over a thousand gallons of gas
Were all they had to get to new york.
This is how charles nungesse and francois coli
Flew for more than 30 hours straight
At a top speed of just 120 miles an hour.
Today, we seal ourselves inside metal tubes
And shut ourselves off from the sky.
But this, this is the pures expression of flight
I've ever experienced.
Feeling properly awed
We wing our way back to the hangar
And I head into the city to continue my search.
As for nungesser and coli,
They aren't exactly househol names in america.
But here in paris, they seem to be everywhere.
Commemorated in street names, memorial parks.
Hell, there's even an entire restaurant
Themed in their honor.
This is the l'oiseau blanc restaurant and bar
On the rooftop of the peninsula paris hotel.
It is a wall to wall celebration
Of the pioneering spirit of our two daring aviators.
It has sweeping views of the eiffel tower,
A replica of the white bird perched above the city
And a michelin star menu.
So, you know, I might be here a while.
All of this has me asking one very important question
Who were these guys?
I reluctantly leave my five star meal behind
And head to le bourget airport, just north of paris
This is where the white bird took flight
And where charles lindbergh landed two weeks later.
Today, it's home to France's stunning air and space museum.
In ours, we have the spirit of st. Louis.
They have a concorde.
The supersonic airliner which crossed the atlantic
In just three and a half hours.
I'm here to meet marion weckerle
Who oversees the museum's collection
Of more than 400 historic planes.
Okay, there's one plane I wanna talk about
That's not here
Which is l'oiseau blanc, the white bird.
Let's start with nungesser and coli.
Looking at photos of them
They look like something out of a movie.
You know, who were these guys, really?
Charles nungesser was a world war I fighter ace pilot.
And, uh, he shot down 43 german aircraft during the war.
[gates] wow.
[weckerle] and that score
Made him one of the deadliest french aces
[gates] after the war
Nungesser did what all flying aces do.
He went to hollywood.
He married a socialite and flew on the silver scree
As a barn storming stunt pilot.
And coli?
-Uh, coli was actually a sailor. -Hmm.
And he began the war as a lowly infantry private.
[gates] coli worked his way up to pilot
And even squadron commander
But when, in 1918, he lost one of his eyes
In a plane crash
He instead, became a skilled navigator.
People here really loved these guys, right?
They were heroic characters in France?
Yeah, they were our national heroes.
So, when the two of them decide to make this attempt
To win the orteig prize,
Is there a lot of confidence in them?
Absolutely, everybody was certain
That, uh, they would succeed.
[gates] may 8th, 1927.
They take off from where?
From here actually, from le bourget.
-Literally here, right? -Literally here.
-Like, in a field right out here? -Mmm-hmm.
They took off at dawn at the 5:30 am
With a big crowd watching them
And encouraging them.
[gates] weighed down by its own fuel,
The white bird barely cleared the trees
At the end of the runway.
A couple of hours later
A priest on the coast of ireland
Claimed to have seen the plane,
Though it's unconfirmed.
Having sacrificed their radio
To make room for more fuel,
After they took off they were utterly alone.
Their intended route would take them 3,630 miles
Across the open waters of the north atlantic.
Eventually reaching the coast of north america
Over newfoundland
And flying down to new york city.
At what point did people realize
There's a problem here?
Uh, on the 9th of may,
Uh, about 40 hours after the take-off.
Because at this point, it was absolutely sure
That they could not have enough fuel
To still be airborne.
[gates] tens of thousands of new yorkers
Gathered to watch the white bird's landing.
It never arrived.
What was the response here in France
When they disappeared?
A total disaster.
People were shocked
Because everybody was so sure that they would succeed.
Right.
Lindbergh would arrive in paris two weeks later.
The french gave him a hero's welcome
Despite their national grie over their two lost pilots.
Lindbergh even traveled to nungesser's mother's hous
To offer his condolences personally.
No piece of the plane is ever found.
Like, no part of the plane survives, right?
Actually, there is one piece.
There's a piece of the plane?
One, we have it right here at the museum.
[gates] that's right.
We're about to see the only known surviving piece
Of the white bird.
Josh, this is the landing gear of the white bird.
[gates] wow, this is the actual landing gear?
Yes, absolutely.
It was designed to be left behind.
It's actually more a taking off gear
Than a landing one.
[gates] this is all that remains of l'oiseau blanc,
The gear that intentionally fell away from the plane
After take-off to save weigh
And transformed the aircraf into a flying boat
For its landing in new york harbor.
Wow, unbelievable.
Just to think that this went rolling down
That airfield out there,
Almost a hundred years ago.
And this is the white paint from the plane?
[weckerle] yes, it's the same color.
And then blue underneath?
[weckerle] ah, yes.
Uh, there is a little, uh, bit of blue painting
On the middle.
Crazy, crazy.
All right, so now I have a difficult question.
Where's the rest of the plane?
The time, the leading theory
Was, at first, that they crashed,
Uh, near the french coast.
Maybe in the english channel.
-So immediately? -Immediately.
But there is another theory
Which is very intriguing.
Uh, which is that they actually did cross
But crashed in north america.
In fact, several groups have been looking for the plane
And right now, a group in maine,
Uh, is still looking for it.
-In maine? -In maine.
All right, well, back across the pond.
The white bird was lost crossing the atlantic.
Now I'm doing it twice.
This time I fly from paris to bangor, maine.
Known for lobster rolls and lighthouses
The gorgeous state down east
Is also the home of stephen king.
Which means there's a decent chance
This whole place is actually cursed.
I have an appointment nearb with peter noddin,
The former president
Of the maine aviation historical society.
And james chichetto
The son of one of the society's founding members.
How you doing, I'm josh.
-James chichetto. -Nice to meet you.
Pete noddin, good to meet you.
Great to meet you as well.
Okay, part of what you do
Is look for lost, wrecked planes, right?
Yeah, there's a group of us
That actually document historic crash sites
And we look for missing aircraft.
How many of these missing aircraft have you found?
Just about 50.
-Five zero? -[noddin] yes.
It's like the bermuda triangle of the north east.
Why are there so many wrecked planes up here?
There are a lot of military aircraft in this area.
-There are over 745 military accidents here in maine. -[gates] wow.
Uh, large dense woods
A lot of places for airplanes to go down and disappear.
Well, there is one plane in particular
I'm very interested in, as you know.
-That we're all interested in, yes. - The white bird.
-[noddin] yes. -Which is also, I guess,
Kind of a white whale, right?
In many ways, yes.
-People have been driven mad looking for this plane? -Yep.
You think it's here in maine?
-Definitely. -Definitely?
Okay.
Make your case, why is it here?
Well, it starts with the witnesses.
[gates] wait, there are witnesses?
[noddin] there are witnesses.
-People have been driven mad looking for this plane? -Yep.
You think it's here in maine?
-Definitely. -Definitely?
In the back country of maine,
I'm joining a pair of veteran wreck chasers
Who believe the know where to search for the white bird.
One of the most important lost planes in history.
Make your case, why is it here?
Well, it starts with the witnesses.
[gates] wait, there are witnesses?
[noddin] there are witnesses.
May 9th, 1927.
There were a group of people that heard
An aircraft pass over.
Which was a very rare thing in 1927.
People have to remember that.
In 1927, a plane goes overhead, it's a big deal.
-[noddin] it was a big deal. -Right.
So this is a map of the region we're in right now.
The first people to hear the aircraft that morning
Were the scotts, a married couple traveling by car.
They heard an airplane approach.
They pulled over and shut the car off
And got out to listen to it pass.
[gates] to them, no questio that was a plane?
[noddin] no question, that was a plane.
[gates] okay.
[noddin] shortly thereafter
We had the magoon up here on their farm,
Actually saw an unusual white biplane
Come out of the fog, circle their farm once
And then flew off to the southeast.
And the father was concerned enough
After the plane flew to the southeast
That he organized a search party of neighbors
And went searching in that area
Where he believed it had crashed.
-I mean, that's really compelling. -Yes.
What other white biplane
-Is flying around up here in 1927? -Exactly.
Now one of the things I'm getting
Looking at all of this
Is that there seems to be a consistency
-This plane is flying south? -Yes.
The scotts, the magoons and other witnesses
All report seeing or hearing a plane
Moving in a southwesterly direction.
So they're on fumes.
Came in over newfoundland, they're not gonna make new york.
Yeah, they're not gonna make new york.
It's possible the first large body of water
That they may have seen to land on
Would be tunk lake, right behind us.
-[gates] this is tunk lake? -[noddin] this is tunk lake.
[gates] tunk lake lies in line with the direction of the aircraf
That the witnesses described
And there's another reason peter and his team
Have hone in on this locatio
Now, I see one other flag on this map.
-Yes. -[gates] down here, millett.
[noddin] yep, james millett.
-[gates] which is pointing to this lake? -[noddin] yes.
So is millett another eyewitness?
No, he found something really interesting here
About 30 years later.
What's millett's story?
[noddin] millett was with a group of hunters
Staying at a camp right here on this lake.
So on one particular day they walk over a mountain.
As they descend down the other side
They decide to stop for lunch.
Millett sees a ledge that looks comfortable to sit on
And he discovers part of an engine
Sticking up out of the ground.
He also discovers some pieces of white canvas.
He discovers a bone that might have been a human tibia.
Did they note this exact location where this happened?
They did not.
How do you pick up the pieces?
How do you find where millett was?
Millett left behind some clues for us.
Okay, what did he leave behind?
When millett and his hunting partner
Got to the top of the mountain
They found a marker
That he said was like a us geological survey benchmark.
These were markers that were put out
As part of topographic surveys.
They're all over the country these things?
-Yes. -All right.
And many of the mountains in this area
Have coastal survey markers on 'em.
So, obvious question.
Do any of these coastal markers
Exist on any of these peaks?
There are two of them on mountains
That are likely suspect.
And so, have you searched them?
We searched one of them.
One of them?
And the other?
You ready for a hike in the maine woods?
Hell yes I am, let's do it, come on.
The wreckage spotted by millett
Nearly three quarters of a century ago
Was left behind and has never been found.
If it is airplane wreckage
There's every chance it's from the white bird.
We board a boat and speed across tunk lake
Toward the peak that may have a geological marker
Matching what millett described.
Waiting at the base of the hill though
Is someone I never knew I was dying to meet.
Want to introduce you to the owner of the dock.
Hi, I'm lee byrd.
Hi, lee, nice to meet you, I'm josh.
-Nice to meet you. -Thanks for letting us use the dock.
My pleasure.
[noddin] you might be familiar with lee's grandfather.
Your grandfather is?
Admiral byrd.
Your grandfather is admiral richard byrd?
Yes, yes.
Your grandfather is one of the most famous
Aviators and explorers ever.
One of the biggest names
In the history of polar exploration.
Pioneering american aviator, richard byrd
Was the first person to fly over
Both the north and south poles.
Like nungesser and coli,
Byrd wanted to claim the orteig prize.
Unfortunately his plane was damaged
During a test flight
From which he barely walked away.
Meanwhile, lindbergh came along
And so, my grandfather offered him the field
To take-off in
And gave him his navigational instruments
To make the flight.
It's insane.
Your grandfather, and I mean this as the highest compliment,
-Was nuts. -Well he was.
[gates laughing] I mean he was.
He did the most amazing stuff.
Yeah, he did.
But he always really calculated it all out
And it's amazing he survived.
That is the ultimate "it's a small world."
It is.
You never know who you're gonna meet in the woods of maine.
Good luck.
-All right, thank you so much. -All right.
I'm speechless. Here we go.
And with that, we set off into less inhabited territor
In search of our lost survey marker.
And there isn't exactly a manicured trail
Leading to the summit.
It's gonna be pushing through
-Some pretty dense stuff it looks like. -[noddin] yeah.
You think, how could an entire airplane go missing
In a place like maine.
And then you come out here and you realize
These woods are no joke.
Getting steep now.
Up, up, up.
Let's get a bearing so we can pick a direction.
[gates] quarter mile from the target.
Straight on really, right?
We're getting close
But we're not out of the woods yet.
So to speak.
Should be 500 feet straight ahead, peter.
[noddin] yep.
[chichetto] I see an opening over there.
It does look like a clearing, 100 feet.
[noddin] does it open up?
[gates] yeah, it does. 20 feet.
[chichetto] wow, I found something.
You got it?
Hey, we got it!
Look at that.
-[noddin] all right. -[gates] okay, man.
Nice work, man.
-[chichetto] all right. -Good coordinates.
This is from 1945, this was hammered in.
This really could be the very spot
That these hunters were, right?
-[chichetto] yeah. -Exactly.
[gates] so then we gotta follow the story from there.
They came to this marker,
And where did they go from here?
-They went down the hill. -Okay.
[chichetto] they went down into a clearing,
They broke for lunch.
And one of these guys sat down on the ledge
To have some lunch.
[gates] and that's when he saw the wreck?
All right, let's get back in the woods.
Can we just enjoy this clearing and this breeze?
-Yeah. -For a moment?
-Is that possible? -[chichetto] that's fine with me.
[gates] back into the trees
I have to admit, I've never looked
For a decade old lunch spot
In the middle of a forest before.
But that's what we're doing.
Wherever these hunters decided to grab a sandwich
May be where they found the white bird.
Definitely looks like an elevation change over here.
[noddin] excellent.
[gates] my lunch sense starts tingling.
I mean, great ledge right here, look at this.
Wow.
This feels perfect to the description, right?
Sit right here.
Legs are dangling.
Wreckage.
-It's a great place to have lunch. -It's consistent.
It's consistent.
I mean, the real question though
Is that after all these years,
All this dead fall here.
Would any of that stuff still be showing?
Possibly not.
This is a good place to break out the metal detector
And sweep this whole area.
Okay, great, let's do it.
We quickly assemble our metal detectors
And fan out into the trees.
Metal detecting, as I'm sur you all know by now
Is feast or famine.
And so far, we're going hungry.
So, a lot of area to search.
A lot of difficult area to search.
Hey, hey, hey! Guys, come here.
[chichetto] whoa, what you got?
James, come here!
Piece of metal over here.
-[noddin] that, that... -[gates] it's aluminum.
[noddin] that screams aviation.
-It really does, right? -[noddin] it really does.
This looks like it's from an airplane.
[chichetto] it does.
[gates] look, it's all riveted on this side.
[noddin] yep.
-It's got white paint on it. -Wow.
I mean that is white paint, right?
Is the red the primer?
[noddin] yeah, I think so.
Red's the primer, yeah, so it's white?
This was painted white, whatever it was.
So there's not a lot of metal on t he white bird
[noddin] no.
What's on it that's metal?
The three fuel tanks which were riveted
-[gates] those were riveted? -They were large.
And this, there are few other aluminum panels
On the aircraft.
There's stuff on the belly, right?
[noddin] yeah, it strikes me as aviation.
Yeah.
So, I mean, first question I guess
Is there anything else right here?
Everybody look around for a second.
Is there anything, like, right here?
We mark the location of the find on gps
And fan out in a circle
To search the surrounding area.
Everybody keep your eyes open,
Camera as well.
Just anything you see that looks out of place here.
[chichetto] whoa, whoa, whoa.
[gates] you got something?
-[chichetto] get up here. -[noddin] whoa.
-[gates] what is it? -[chichetto] I don't know.
It looks like an air frame.
[gates] a what?
Holy [bleep] look at this!
[chichetto] whoa, whoa, whoa.
[gates] you got something?
-[chichetto] get up here. -[noddin] whoa.
-[gates] what is it? -[chichett] I don't know.
It looks like an air frame.
[gates] a what?
Holy [bleep] look at this!
In the wilds of maine, searching for the remains
Of the legendary plane, the white bird,
We found what might be a piece of aviation history
[laughing]... That's a wreck.
-[noddin] whoa, whoa, whoa. -[gates] yeah.
-That's an airplane wreck. -[chichetto] that's an airplane.
[gates] that's a [bleep] airplane, yes?
[chichetto] yeah, it's an airplane.
Come here, bring your camera over here.
Look, there's wood in this.
This is part of the plane.
-Right? -[noddin] yep.
This is actually part of the construction of the plane.
[noddin] yeah, that's the voice bar, yes.
Right, you've got a wooden wing spar.
I mean, this thing is what, twenties, thirties?
[noddin] yep.
Early aircraft.
[gates] that's amazing.
-Josh, look around that tree, at the base right there. -[gates] the ring?
-[noddin] yeah, that's-- -[gates] ain't that a collector?
[noddin] that's an exhaust collector.
-That's from the radio engine? -[noddin] yeah.
[gates] so did the tree grow through it?
[noddin] the tree has grown up through it
Over the years, yes.
Well that gives us some idea of how long
This plane has been here.
We've gotta be in the right era.
[noddin] yeah.
[gates] whoa, whoa.
Is that fuel? Or oil?
That's a portable fuel can.
That's one of those four gallon portable fuel cans
They used to fuel the aircraft with.
Do you have any sense of what this is?
[noddin] it's an aircraft, it's not our aircraft.
This is welded steel frame.
Right, it's not the white bird.
So what is it?
-See that piece of aluminum right there on the wind spar? -[gates] yeah.
[noddin] that piece of aluminum right there
Is very distinctive
To the early fairchild bush planes.
It was an old canadian mail plane
That went down around 1930.
The canadian airways fairchild 71
Was on an early postal rout
Between saint john, new brunswick
And montreal, quebec.
When the engine on the plan quite and refused to restart
Both the pilot and mechanic aboard
Survived and hiked out.
But the aircraft was lost to the wilderness.
Has anybody been out here to see this?
No, I'm not sure anybody has ever found it
And photographed it.
That's nuts.
I mean, this is a piece of history sitting here.
This is a very historic site.
And that's why we look for these things.
[gates] and to think that nobody's been out here
To see this thing since two guys crawled out of it
Almost a hundred years ago is insane.
For a second I saw the white bird but, no.
Hey, I'll take it.
Outstanding.
Nice work, guys.
Another aviation mystery solved.
Our expedition in the woods
Has revealed the lost resting place
Of a missing aircraft.
Peter and james will continu to document the wreck
And scour the forest for other evidence.
But as for me,
Maine is not the only place
Where the white bird is being hunted.
I pack my bags so I can travel to my third country
On nungesser's trail, 800 miles north,
In newfoundland, canada.
Welcome to the island of newfoundland.
A place I have always wanted to visit.
Behind me is the eastern most point
In all of north america.
And below, nestled in this rocky harbor
Is st. John's.
The oldest european founded city
On the continent.
The official name of the province
Is newfoundland and labrador
And if you're a dog person
You know exactly what I'm about to cut to.
I don't know whose dog this is
But you're coming home with me.
Oh, you are the best dog.
St. John's is home to wildly dramatic shoreline
And rainbow hued homes
Designed to lift people's spirits
During dark winter months.
Which around here,
Are basically all but three of them.
[military call]
[gates] but fear not.
The locals will warm your spirits.
And so will the booze.
Whoo.
-Welcome... -[man] welcome.
...To newfoundland.
[guests cheering]
[gates] I could spend a week
Walking though st. John's
But I have an appointment at the rooms
A museum dedicated to preserving
Newfoundland's rich cultural legacy.
Waiting for me is the executive director
Of the international group for historic aircraft recovery,
My old friend, ric gillespie
Hey, hey.
-Ric, how are ya? -Hey, josh, how ya doing?
-I'm good, good to see ya, man. -Good to see ya.
Long time exu fans will remember ric
From the very first episode of this show.
When he helped educate me about the search
For amelia earhart's lost plane.
And now, here we are
Talking about another great aviation mystery.
Just as big a mystery
And a more important mystery.
This might be the most important
Missing airplane in history.
And one of the least known.
That's one of the things that really drew me to this story.
To many people in the states
It's just unknown.
[gillespie] that's right.
And the white bird and it's disappearance
Is a key to the lindbergh triumph.
[gates] right.
If these guys had succeeded in flying the atlantic
Lindbergh would not have flown the atlantic.
And every school child in america
Would know the names of charles nungesser
And francois coli and l'oiseau blanc.
That's right, it'd be a different world.
Now, there have been a lot of theories
As to where the white bird disappeared.
I've been to maine.
You've looked there as well, right?
For eight years we looked in maine.
Right. You have another theory
That's brought me here in st. John's?
No, I have evidence
That brought you here to st. John's.
I love this, okay.
How convinced are you that the white bird is her?
Well, let me show you the newfoundland evidence.
Ric has been scouring the archives
Here at the rooms
And has uncovered sworn affidavits from 1927.
Witnesses to what ric believes
Could be the white bird.
I, james peddle,
Was walking out of cottage road
When I heard the sound like an airplane
Out of the northeast.
About two minutes after hearing this sound
I saw what I am certain was an airplane of white color
For a few moments,
Then she turned quickly about south.
Using these witness statemen
Ric has been able to establi a potential flight path
For the white bird.
But there are some that have told ric
Not just about the position of the plane
But her condition as well.
One such witness was john dobbins.
[ric] dobbins sees and airplane
Headed toward red head.
Which is a terrain feature along this coastline.
Tall, red-colored cliff.
Very prominent feature.
He's cutting wood and he sees an airplane
That he says is, uh, trailing white smoke.
[gates] white smoke?
[gillespie] an airplane on fire
Doesn't trail white smoke.
It trails black smoke.
[gates] big time.
Well, the white bird had a liquid cool engine
And if one of the coolant pipes ruptured
The airplane is going to trail a huge cloud of white steam.
[gates] and one person ric discovered
May even have been an ear witness
To the white bird's final moments.
Nicholas mcgraw, on the red head river
Hears three loud explosions
Off in the distance, boom, boom, boom.
It has no explanation.
So your theory is that, what happens?
The white bird had three fuel tanks
Lined up right behind the engine.
He's gotta find calm water to land this airplane on.
And sure enough, he turns inland
And the first acceptable pond, it's the gull pond.
But because the white bird is what it is
With these three big fuel tanks
And an engine way out there,
He can't see over the nose at all.
What he doesn't see
Is a rocky island in the middle of the pond.
And he lands...
[claps hands]
...Touches down, hits that island.
So, we actually can complete the line
Down the coast to...
Across the bay to red head.
-[gates] right. -[gillespie] to the gull pon
There are accounts of wreckage out there?
It is an established story.
Oh, with the gull pond, yeah.
That's the pond with the plane in it.
Wow.
And so, have you been out to this place?
Have you been to gull pond?
I have been to the pond, many times.
I assume when you went out there
You didn't find, uh, the wreckage of a plane
Just sitting on that little rocky island.
No we didn't.
But we did find something.
-You did find something out there? -Yes.
-You wanna see it? -You have it?
It's right here in the archives.
[gates] ric brings me down
To the museum's special collections
Where director lori temple,
Has something very special indeed.
So, you have something here that ric found?
I do.
This is the highlight of the collection
Here at the rooms, right?
It is one of the many treasures but my favorite.
Get out of here.
You found this out at that pond?
Get out of here.
[gillespie] we found it with a metal detector
Off the end of a little rocky island
In the middle of the gull pond.
[gates] aviation investigator, ric gillespie
Believes this debris
Might be from the legendary lost plane,
The white bird.
Can we inspect it?
Sure, uh, we'll just put some gloves on.
Sure.
Is there anything on it that's diagnostic?
I mean is there any rivets
Or any markings that we can discern on it?
[gillespie] the only thing on it is paint.
Oh, look at that, yes.
Yeah, kind of a light blue, gray paint.
[gillespie] and the steel parts of the white bird
Were painted gray blue.
I mean, I have seen the only part the white bir that's left.
And there is paint on it
That looks really similar to that.
I mean, there is.
Whatever this is, it has a story
We just don't know what its story is.
All right, so, is there more out there?
I mean, one thing I've never heard
Is anybody saying they pulled an engine block
Out of that pond.
No, which if it's the white bird,
Weighed almost a thousand pounds
And was roughly as big as the table we're standing at.
So where is it?
Could it be out at that pond?
There's only one way to know.
We have to go look.
[gates] with fog rolling in
Bad weather in the forecast
And no roads to gull pond
This is gonna be interesting
Let's do it.
Here we go.
The trip takes us
Over some of the most remote terrain on earth.
An endless expanse of rocks, bogs and ponds.
Yeah, once you get outside the city
It's just wilderness.
It's incredible.
We got the, uh, caribou over here at three o'clock.
[gates] look at that, beautiful.
Wow.
We're coming up on red head.
These cliffs right here.
We are now, really, in the exact place
Where dobbins saw this airplane
For the last time.
Point last seen, right here.
We're doing about a hundred, 110 knots
Which is just what the white bird would've been doing.
They're coming in this hot, no landing gear, no wheels.
[gillespie] that's right.
[gates] I mean, I can totally understand now
And put myself in this position of, like,
Desperately looking for a place to land.
[gillespie] josh, this is gull pond.
-[gates] this is it? -[gillespie] this is the place.
And this is for sure, the largest body of water
I've seen out here.
This is a place you could try to put a plane down,
For sure.
Now where's that island?
Right over here.
[gates] so all those stories
And the metal that you found
From that little island?
[gillespie] yep.
Okay, now we just gotta find a place to land.
The helicopter drops us off to meet ric's team
Who have already choppered in.
Magnetic imaging experts and drone operators,
Kiyavash parvar and andrew gagnon-nandram,
And airplane archaeologist, lisa daly.
Okay, let's talk about this beast right here.
This is a drone?
Yeah, right here we have a commercial multi-copter drone.
-Okay. -That we use for geophysical surveys.
Andrew has mounted a powerful magnetometer to his drone,
Allowing him to conduct
The first ever aerial mag scan of the lake.
The hope, is to get a hit on the aircraft's engine.
What we're hoping to detect
Is probably the only thing that's left
Of the white bird.
Because the airplane was wood and fabric
And it blew up and burned.
The hypothesis that we're testing
Is that the airplane came in from the east,
Attempted to land on the pond
And struck this rocky island.
You're gonna press go
And it's gonna follow its gps track
And start surveying.
-Mowing the lawn. -Mowing the lawn, exactly.
All right, mow away, let's do it.
The drone lifts off
And begins its pre-programme grid over the pond.
Flying a hundred feet in the air,
To cover almost a hundred acres of territory
In a fraction of the time it would take from the groun
So, how long's it gonna take to scan this whole pond?
[gangnon-nandram] the whole lake will take about three to four hours to fly.
All right, so we got some time on our hands.
A few hours later
The drone has landed and the data is in.
I'm excited to see if we've bagged the white bird.
So walk us through the color patterning first.
[gangnon-nandram] so, uh, blue would be low magnetic intensity
And the reds into the purples and the pinks
Are the higher end.
So the bed rock here
Does have a lot of magnetic signal.
So what we're looking for here
Is a few of the smaller outliers
That sort of don't fit the pattern,
We can't really explain based on the geology.
And did you find targets like that?
Yes.
We have four of five, uh, suspicious, uh, targets
That, uh, that I cannot explain geologically.
Like, this one, kind of like a butterfly thing
As you can see.
-[gillespie] right. -[gates] yeah.
And that is, uh, not what geology does
In this area.
[gates] can you show us where we are
In relation to the island?
[parvar] yeah, the island is here
And the anomaly we just saw is over here.
That's why I'm, like, a little bit more suspicious of that one.
Second target is gonna be this one.
[gates] so it's this here we're talking about?
Right near the island?
-[parvar] yes. -[gates] okay.
So there's something there that may not be natural?
[parvar] exactly.
[gates] the scan has reveale several promising targets
That could support the theory
That the white bird crashed on to the small,
Rocky island in the middle of gull pond.
Now we just need to get a closer look.
If there are answers that's where they are.
[gates] to check out our targets, we're gonna need boats.
The good news is we brought some with us.
The bad news, some assembly is required.
Use the hand or a foot to operate an air pump
To inflate the boat.
Inflation must be done by a trained geologist.
It's a good thing we're here then.
Just trying to get out of it.
Fill each chamber till it is stiff to the touch
But not hard.
Moving on.
I got it, ric, I got it.
I know you do.
[all giggling]
White bird meet the white boat.
The water is near freezing
So we don immersion suits.
This far from civilization
Hypothermia is not somethin you wanna mess with.
Then, it's finally time to launch.
Here we go, nice and slow, it's slippery out here.
And if you fall, fall toward the boat.
It's good advice.
[daly laughing] yeah.
[gates] and hey, speaking of engines
Our portable boat doesn't have one.
But hey, no motor no problem.
There's really no good place to bring this ashore
So let's really slowly try to walk it in here.
Watch out for the sharp rocks.
So, where did you find that piece of metal?
Right off this end of the island, right in there.
[gates] right in... Okay, well,
We got strong metal detectors with us,
We'll definitely scan this whole area again.
Maybe we'll get lucky, who knows.?
Hey, ric, I'm gonna start scanning over here
And work my around to you.
It shouldn't take long to cover an island this smal
But the terrain turns a simple task
Into an arduous affair.
I mean, it's so rocky here
With so many little nooks.
Who knows, there could be debris anywhere out here.
Nothing out here.
-Ric, you got anything in there? -No.
I'm gonna head a little further out,
Maybe we get lucky out here.
[metal detector beeping]
Hey, josh, I got a hit over here.
You got something?
The rooms is a repository for newfoundland's history.
Including a personal connection
That melanie tucker us helping me explore
For the first time.
So all I really know
Is that my grandmother on my father's side
Came from newfoundland.
-Okay, -so, what did you find?
I looked her up, found her birth record.
And we found her parents' names.
Samuel and tryphina.
These are my great-grandparents?
That's right.
And do we know anything about my grandmother's siblings?
About their children?
Here they are in the 1945 census.
John king.
And they lived here in st. John's?
They lived here in st. John's.
-She was with the police department. -Uh-huh.
And they were listed in the 1960s
As living at one fort townshend.
Guess where you're standing?
-It was here? -This is fort townshend.
-They lived right here? -They lived on this spot.
So you're telling me I own this whole place?
Is that... This is all mine everybody.
[metal detector beeping]
Hey, josh, I got a hit over here.
You got something?
Well, I got a hit.
[gates] aviation investigato ric gillespie and I
Are hunting the lost plane known as the white bird.
And we might just have found something.
Okay, what do you got?
Good news is, I've got a strong hit.
The bad news is, it's under a giant rock.
Big, black rock.
Oh, yeah?
I got it.
[metal detector beeping]
Something there.
[gillespie] let's think about this for a second.
Rock doesn't grow.
[gates chuckling] no.
[gillespie] and we're not getting any return off the rocks.
-It's not like we've got hot rocks here. -[gates] no.
[gillespie] so it's gotta be a piece of metal
That got under that rock somehow.
Hold this, will you?
You're gonna pick up the rock?
I'm not that strong.
Your josh gates, come on.
[gates laughing]
But I may be able to reach down a little bit.
Yeah.
Come on, what is this?
Oh, I got something.
Oh, ow, I just found something sharp.
Uh, I got something.
What is that?
I don't know.
[daly] uh, that's a fishing hook.
-Is it, no? -I don't think that is a fishing hook.
-[gillespie] it's not a fish hook -[daly] no, it's not.
It's a piece of wire.
[gillespie] is it safety wire?
[gates] safety wire is used to this day
In order to lock fasteners in place
Where vibration could cause them to loosen or fall out.
For example, in a biplane in 1927.
I don't know what that is but it's fascinating that it's here
I mean, it's not a piece of fishing tackle
-I don't think. -[daly] yeah.
I don't know if I broke it on the end
Or if there's something else down there.
[metal detector beeping]
-There's more. -Oh, there is more
[gates] there's more.
There's something sharp here
I just don't know if it's a rock, or...
Trying to free it.
We've been so busy digging in the rocks
We fail to notice some important,
Big picture details.
[dave] josh, you there?
[gates] as I learn when my producer, dave,
Calls on the radio.
[radio beeping]
What's going on, dave?
[dave speaking]
[radio beeping]
Like, coming in right this second,
We need to leave?
Or coming in sooner than expected?
[dave speaking]
[radio beeping]
Yeah, we can see those clouds as well.
Winds definitely picking up.
Let's have the helicopter
Take a first load of people out
And we'll start making our way back to shore.
[dave speaking]
[gates] I'm gonna give this two more minutes
Then I'm getting out of here.
Suddenly, we're in a race against time.
The last thing we want is to be trapped
On this tiny island when a thunderstorm hits.
But I can't bring myself to leave
For just a few more seconds
I got something.
Oh, I got something else, hold on.
I got something else, hold on.
I don't know, can lid? What do you think?
No, it's not a can lid
It's way too heavy.
Let's keep that underwater
Because if we expose it to air it will deteriorate.
So we put it in a bag of water.
[gates] as much as it looks like a can lid
I don't think it is.
[gates] this lid is too heavy and thick
To be from a common can.
It feels like a plate
Or a cover to a piece of equipment
And could be a significant piece of evidence.
That was it, we got nothing else down here.
You got the wire as well?
[daly] I got the wire as well.
[dave speaking]
You know, we don't wanna [bleep] with this weather
[gates] that leaves us a target
Out in the deeper water there
But I don't think we're gonna get to that.
Ric, I got some bad news for you.
You're gonna have to come back
On this island again, I think.
I've never had a better reason to come back to this island.
[gates] there we go, exactly.
All right, guys, here we go, let's get off this island.
We pile back into the boat
As the rain intensifies,
And flee our small island.
I'm glad we stuck around
But we're paying for it on the way back.
The wind and rain are upon us
As we row for shore just ahead of the storm.
Rain is coming down now.
[bleep]
Hustle, hustle, hustle.
Okay, let's get everything wrapped up.
We gotta get our people out of here.
Okay, we're aboard.
All right, well, skin of our teeth.
-Skin of our teeth. -Nice work.
-Thank you. -Yeah.
Beautiful.
Though we are forced to flee gull pond remains.
Ric and his team will return
When the conditions improve
To further explore the magnetometer hits we discovered.
The two pieces of potential evidence we recovered
Were sent to the rooms in st. John's
For conservation and analysis.
And now, we have an update.
X-ray fluorescence reveals
That the disc is made of steel
And does not appear to match any common
Or mass market lid that could be identified.
It is plated with nickel and zinc on one side
To prevent rust.
But more curious,
Is the slight convex depression.
If it was not a feature of the disc's manufacture
It may suggest evidence of an explosion.
As to the wire, it's made of copper
And turns out to be a perfect match
For aviation safety wire
Used in the era of the white bird.
Along with the mysterious debris that ric
Previously recovered,
The evidence is mounting.
That there may be more to gul pond
Just waiting to be found.
Sometimes, history turns on a single event.
Charles lindbergh's success
Only 12 days after the disappearance
Of the white bird, positioned the united state
As the aviation innovator
In the period leading into world war ii.
But if charles nungesser and francois coli
Had reached new york,
Charles lindbergh would merely be a footnote
In another aviator's heroic story.
Investigators like ric gillespie
And peter noddin
Will carry the torch for the spirit of exploration
That inspired nungesser and coli
To attempt the impossible
Through their dedication
Perhaps those of us on this side of the pond
Will finally come to remembe and appreciate
The bravery and sacrifice
Of the white bird's c
Not in lindbergh's shadow
But as the pioneers they truly were.