Firm Sets Sights on Old Plane Wrecks in Forest

Along the mountain peaks of the Los Padres National Forest in northern Ventura County, airplane wreckage remains pounded into the earth.

The rugged terrain contains the remains of 60 known plane wrecks, including bits and pieces of two dozen World War II planes that crashed more than 40 years ago.

And, until recently, no one has sought to remove these eerie reminders of journeys that ended fatally against a mountainside.

Wreckfinders, the Hawaiian company that wants to do the salvage work, believes there are big bucks to be made from the old wrecks. It has asked the U.S. Forest Service for permission to remove all the wrecks in the forest, but especially the warplanes.

Company officials say they plan to sell the old parts to repair the few World War II planes that are still flying.

Forest Service officials say they welcome Wreckfinders’ offer but note that some people believe that the wrecks should be left alone. The Forest Service will be accepting letters on the matter through Thursday.

Terence Geary, West Coast coordinator for Wreckfinders, said the company plans to first target the forest area from Lake Piru to Ojai. The area includes the Sespe Condor Sanctuary and the Sespe Wilderness.

Search-and-rescue pilot Chris Spangenberg, who can point out dozens of downed planes on a tattered map of the forest, is one of those who believes the old wrecks should be left alone.

“They’re monuments to someone’s bad luck or poor judgment,” he said. “Some of the really old wrecks that have been in the forest so long are like landmarks.”

A legend surrounds one of the planes, Spangenberg said. He said a downed 1940s-era DC-3 on White Mountain is said to have carried diamonds. Some people believe the gems are still on the mountain, and one man from Los Angeles searches in vain annually for the riches.

Spangenberg of Camarillo described several old wrecks in the mountains, including the tail section of a BT-13, a World War II plane used in training exercises, and a P-51 Mustang, once used in missions over Europe. The BT-13 is along the West Fork of Sespe Creek and the Mustang is on Nordhoff Peak near Ojai.

Modern planes, such as Cessnas, are literally scattered all through the mountains, said Spangenberg, who has made it his hobby to keep track of the wrecks.

Weekends, he hikes to the sites to get a closer look.

“As a pilot, I’m curious,” Spangenberg said. “It’s amazing to see just how destructive some of these impacts are. You wonder who these people were, what their lives were like and how they came to such an end.”

Through last week, the Forest Service had received only two public responses, one positive and one negative, on Wreckfinders’ request.

“One man wrote on the back of a business card, ‘Great idea to remove wrecks from forests,’ ” said Al Hess, lands officer for the Ojai Ranger District.

Another man urged the Forest Service not to disturb a wreck in which a friend was killed in 1967. He said he considers the downed plane a memorial.

Hess said he believes that the wrecks should be removed. “There’s a benefit to cleaning up the forest.

“We try to remove the newer ones,” Hess said of the wrecks. “It’s just harder to get to the older ones. They range anywhere from planes that are intact to those that are spread all over the place.”

The wrecks, most of which have been around for years, are a problem for authorities because they are often reported as recent crashes, said Dan Shea, a pilot for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. Sheriff’s deputies are required to respond to all reported wrecks, he said.

“There’s a Cessna . . . up on the ridge near Fillmore that we get called out on at least twice a year,” Shea said.

Wreckfinders is not new to salvaging planes in mountainous areas, Geary said. The company has recovered pieces of dozens of warplanes in Hawaii, he said.

“We don’t fix anything up,” he said. “We just sell the parts. We’re talking about big bucks.”

For example, Geary said, the tail section of a DC-3 could sell for as much as $20,000. A small pin from a wing of a vintage military plane could sell for $8,000.

“We need the wrecks to keep the war birds running,” Geary said. “They just don’t make parts like that anymore.”

Geary said the company hopes to begin removing the airplanes in the fall, after the Forest Service completes an environmental impact report. He said a team of about six people will lift the wreckage out of the forest by helicopter and then place it on trucks.

The vintage plane parts will then be cleaned and sold at auction, he said.

Although Wreckfinders is not interested in selling pieces of the newer plane wrecks, it plans to remove them as a courtesy to the Forest Service, Geary said.

Eventually, the company hopes to remove pieces of 280 planes still remaining in the entire Los Padres National Forest, which stretches from the Los Angeles County line to Carmel.

“We want to clean up the environment,” Geary said, “and we want to make money at it.”

Richard Royce--a member of the Southern California Wing of the Confederate Air Force, a national organization dedicated to preserving warplanes of 1939-1945 vintage--said he knows firsthand how difficult it is to find vintage plane parts.

The Southern California Wing has been forced to go to South America to purchase parts to repair its C-46, a World War II version of the C-130 transport plane.

Royce said his group once spent $1,500 for a tire. He said wing members dread the day they have to replace an engine--which would cost at least $30,000.

The Confederate Air Force gets most of its money for repairs from fees for performing at air shows, he said.

The organization, which has about 90 wings and squadrons across the country, has restored about 140 planes, including all types of major combat aircraft used during World War II.

Although it’s expensive to keep the planes flying, Royce said it’s worth it.

“It’s something worth preserving,” he said. “We’re saving a piece of an era that has passed.”

NEXT STEP

Anyone wishing to express an opinion on whether 60 planes should be removed by a salvage company from the Los Padres National Forest in Ventura County can write to U.S. Forest Service Lands Officer Al Hess at the Ojai Ranger District, 1190 E. Ojai Ave., Ojai, Calif. 93023. Hess will be accepting responses through Thursday.