DAVIS TOWNSHIP — At first, it appeared that a tragedy might be unfolding in this wilderness area northwest of Rangeley.

A helicopter pilot came upon the wreckage of an airplane this week, just south of John’s Pond. He initially assumed the worst.

“The paint is in excellent shape,” pilot Keith Deschambeault said. “It looks like it could have crashed yesterday.”

Not to worry, though. The plane crashed in 1973, with a formally attired foursome on board. Every one of them survived.

Deschambeault, owner of Acadia Seaplanes, was flying over an area known as John’s Pond Ridge when he spotted something peculiar in a location that had recently been cleared.

“Something white and orange down there caught my eye,” he said.

There had always been rumblings about wreckage from an old aircraft being out there, he said, but no specifics were ever offered.

On Thursday, Deschambeault went after those specifics. He landed his helicopter in a clearing near the crash site and hiked to the downed plane, snapping pictures as he went. He was able to retrieve the tail number and from there, the fog of mystery began to clear.

On Nov. 21, 1973, the Nashua Telegraph reported that a Cessna 172 had gone down with four people on board.

“The people, two men and two women, were en route from Biddeford to Millinocket when the accident occurred. All aboard were dressed in formal attire,” according to the Telegraph report. “One man and one woman suffered leg fractures. The other two people received relatively minor injuries. The group spent the night in a small natural depression in the ground with portions of the aircraft placed along the rim to help block the cold winds and snow. They built a fire using portions of one woman’s evening gown to ignite the wood.”

“The following morning, the uninjured man, clad in his tuxedo, made his way down the mountain to a road and flagged down a passing truck,” the newspaper story continued. “A helicopter was dispatched to rescue the others still at the crash site. All were brought to a clinic in Rangeley, Maine, and were expected to recover.”

After hearing this back story, Deschambeault, who holds a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical science, deduced a couple of things. One, the plane had been extremely off course when it crashed, if the pilot had indeed been heading to Millinocket. And two, it took more than a little bit of grit and determination for that one survivor to hike his way out of the woods to get help for the others.

“I went in there in hiking boots and it was slow going,” Deschambeault said. “I can’t imagine what it was like in 1973 for a guy wearing formal shoes.”

According to Telegraph archives, 42-year-old Richard L. Howard of Saco was the passenger who hiked out of the woods. In a blood-spattered tuxedo, he was able to flag down the driver of a logging truck, according to the report.

The plane’s other occupants were pilot Leroy P. McDonald of Saco, Rita Thorndike of Scarborough, both of whom suffered leg fractures, and Mrs. Marion Peterson of Saco, who was bruised but not seriously injured, according to the Telegraph. Howard and Mrs. Peterson dragged the other two into a depression in the ground.

After Deschambeault discovered the wreckage, it was also learned that the crash had been reported to federal aviation officials shortly after the plane went down. There is no more to be done about it and the mystery seems to have been solved.

For Deschambeault, the experience was a lot more enjoyable given the fact that nobody perished in the wreck.

“It was a really neat thing to see,” he said. “And it was better after I found out that everyone survived.”