Experts have discovered the wreckage of a corporate private jet in Lake Champlain in Vermont, more than 50 years after its tragic crash with five people aboard.

The discovery, lying 200 feet below the lake’s surface, marks a significant breakthrough in the search for the ill-fated jet.

“With all those pieces of evidence, we’re 99% absolutely sure,” underwater searcher Garry Kozak told NBC 10 Boston.

The aircraft vanished shortly after departing from Burlington on Jan. 27, 1971, while en route to Providence, Rhode Island. 

The flight was piloted by Donald Myers and George Nikita, with passengers Richard Windsor, Robert Williams, and Frank Wilder. Despite numerous search efforts over the decades — 17 in all — the elusive wreckage had remained undiscovered until now. 

Family members were left with mixed feelings. “To have this found now … it’s peaceful feeling, at the same time it’s a very sad feeling,” Barbara Nikitas, niece of pilot George Nikita, said in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday. “We know what happened. We’ve seen a couple of photos. We’re struggling I think with that now.”

Frank Wilder’s father, who was a passenger on the plane, was also torn. 

“Spending 53 years not knowing if the plane was in the lake or maybe on a mountainside around there somewhere was distressing,” he said. “And again, I’m feeling relieved that I know where the plane is now, but unfortunately it’s opening other questions and we have to work on those now.”

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