On September 11, 1952, the C-45 was on a routine flight from Bedford, Massachusetts to Griffis Air Force Base near Rome, New York when the left engine began failing about 40 miles southeast of Utica

The C-45 is almost totally intact. The fibreglass nose cone is missing as are the vertical stabilizers. One of the blades of the left propeller broke off and lies nearby on the bottom. Part of the windshield was broken and the left side of the body behind the wing has been torn away.

Before they were sunk into the Gulf of Mexico, the jets were gutted and attached to concrete anchors. Both jets were slowly lifted from the barge and briefly floated on top of the Gulf before they headed toward the ocean floor.

The two planes are now about 74 feet underwater and about 3 nautical miles from the M.B. Miller county pier. Divers expect fish to start coming to check it out any day.