Still no answers - but the airplane is out of the treetops

DINGMAN — The airplane is gone, but how it got to the trees near Gold Key Lake remains a mystery. On May 30, Anglin Aircraft Recovery Services flew in a large helicopter to lift a single engine Piper Cherokee from the tree tops near Gold Key Lake. At about 10 a.m., the plane was extricated from trees using a heavy industrial sling and a steel cable lowered from the helicopter. The copter flew it several hundred feet and set it down in a seldom used parking lot in Gold Key. The Dingman Township Fire Department had one fire engine and an emergency ambulance on hand in case anything went wrong. Gold Key security had blocked off any roads in the community so no vehicles would be near the airlift scene. A short flight plan had to be filed with the FAA (Federal Aviation Agency). No occupied homes were allowed to be in the flight path the helicopter took while transporting the plane. There were plenty of onlookers as the helicopter lifted the disabled plane and carried it dangling on a 100 foot cable below the copter. It was a slow and careful flight as the suspended plane turned from side to side as the low velocity wind tossed it around slightly. As soon as the disabled plane was on the ground FAA Aviation Safety Inspector Harry Soudas began his preliminary investigation. He examined the entire aircraft and took many photographs. Soudas appeared to take fuel samples from each wing tank. Anglin spent the rest of the day disassembling the aircraft for removal onto a flatbed trailer. On the following morning the plane was loaded on the truck and disappeared out of the community as quickly as it had arrived. According to authorities, aircraft owner Robert J. Stephanoff of Piscataway, N.J,, who allegedly piloted a plane which crashed into the treetops on May 18, has not commented to authorities. Mr. Stephanoff has an unlisted phone and could not be reached for comment by the Courier.