On the evening of July 3, 1998, 57-year-old Donovan Rodriguez, a flight instructor from Northwestern Michigan College, was the co-pilot on an Aero L-39 Albatros jet with pilot Don Schaller. The jet departed Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City at about 6:30 p.m. for a local practice flight for the upcoming National Cherry Festival Air show. No flight plan was filed and conditions were visual.

About 17 minutes after takeoff the aircraft vanished from radar roughly south of the Fox Islands in Lake Michigan. The last radio transmission placed them 27 miles northeast of the airport, tracking back toward it. Radar showed a turn and a westward heading near 300 miles per hour before contact was lost near South Fox Island. A witness reported hearing a loud boom but saw no aircraft.

A multinational search covered about 2,300 square nautical miles and included the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, Canadian Forces, and other aircraft, but no wreckage or remains were recovered. Sonar searches later flagged possible underwater targets, but extreme depths have prevented definitive identification. The NTSB listed the probable cause as Undetermined, and the Michigan State Police list Donovan Rodriguez and Don Schaller as missing.

Did anyone in the area at that time notice anything unusual that night or have information about the jet’s final course?