World War II Helldiver plane lifted from reservoir
SOUTH COUNTY — As the bent prop of the wounded, but still intact Helldiver bomber slowly emerged from Lower Otay Reservoir Friday afternoon, two F-18 Navy Hornets buzzed the lake.
Coincidence or tribute? No one was sure, but it sure looked like the new Navy was paying tribute to the men who fought before them, to a pilot's plane that finally, after more than 65 years on the muddy bottom of Lower Otay Lake, was brought to the surface.
With a crowd of hundreds on shore, many applauding the sight, the SB2C-4 World War II Helldiver, which crashed into Lower Otay on May 28, 1945, finally was lifted from its muddy grave. Hundreds of people had gathered at the lake all week as the long and tedious process of raising the plane took longer than expected and involved more equipment. The plane was known as "The Beast" because pilots struggled to control it, and it was a monster to retrieve from Otay's mud.
When the plane finally surfaced and was lifted off the lake by a Brewer Crane & Rigging Terex crane out of Lakeside, two days later than the initial estimate, there was lots of emotion from the surviving family and relief for the crew that recovered it.
The engine was bashed and blackened, the tail was chewed up, but the plane still looked every bit the war machine it was during World War II. It was hard to believe such a plane could lay on the bottom of Lower Otay Lake in 85 feet of water for that long and go undetected. When it finally was suspended in the air, family members reacted.
“Oh man, look at that big old engine and tail; now there's a plane that hasn't been in the air in 65 years,” said Richard Frazar, whose father, E.D. Frazar, of Richmond, Tx., was forced to ditch the Helldiver into Lower Otay when the engine on the plane failed. He and Army Sgt. Joseph Metz of Youngstown, Ohio, survived the crash, swam to shore and hitchhiked back to their base at Ream Field in the South Bay. Both have since passed away, but some members of their family enjoyed the day of remembrance that came with the sight of the men’s plane.
“I just wish my dad was here to see this,” added Frazar, a former Marine who was at his daughter’s side when the plane surfaced. His daughter, Allison Davis, rescheduled several flights back to Texas to be on the Otay shoreline Friday. Frazar’s wife, June, who flew out with her husband in the couple's private plane on Tuesday, had to return early Friday afternoon to be with their daughter who is leaving for college. Frazar will fly his single-engine, two-seater back to Texas today.
"The connection back to my father is just emotional," Frazar added. "With the pictures that we have of my dad actually flying this aircraft, that were actually taken when he was flying this plane, and the picture of him with his foot on the wing and ready to climb aboard, that’s all a direct connection back to my dad. It’s very meaningful, and I can’t wait to go to Pensacola and take my granddaughters and grandsons there to see it when it’s restored to it’s flying condition."
Frazar later was given permission to climb aboard the plane and recreate his father’s famous pose, with one foot on the Helldiver's wing, a stance that was captured in a photo that has been widely circulated since the story first broke in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
“That was an awesome feeling to get up there and touch the plane,” Frazar said. “This has been an incredible week for me and my family. We’ve been treated so kindly. I know my father would have loved seeing the plane, but he was such a people person. He would have really enjoyed swapping stories and meeting Bob Kofnovec, his regular gunner who came down (from Santa Clarita) on Thursday.”...
Navy pilot E.D. Frazar before he boards an SB2C-4 Helldiver. Frazar was the pilot of the Helldiver that ditched into the Lower Otay Reservoir on May 28, 1945. Photo courtesy of Richard Frazar
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