Two World War II bombers have been discovered in the water system off Papua New Guinea as part of a huge project that ’s dedicated to determine the last resting place of US soldier who went miss in action during the war .
Project Recover is a collaboration between nautical scientists and archaeologists aiming to search the sea floor for miss WWII aircraft , using a mix of historical evidence , archive data , scanning sonars , mellow definition imaging , diving , drones , and underwater robots .
Even with all this scientific gadgetry in their hands , one of the independent leads on this latest discovery was simply talking to senior and divers from a nearby coastal hamlet . Their hint - offs finally led to the site of twoB-25 Mitchell bomberaircraft that were later on extensively document and surveyed by the team .
“ People have this genial image of an plane resting intact on the sea floor , but the world is that most planes were often already damaged before crashing , or come apart up upon impact . And , after soaking in the ocean for decades , they are often unrecognizable to the untrained eye , often covered in precious coral and other sea - life , " Katy O’Connell , Project Recover ’s Executive Director , say ina assertion . " Our use of advanced technology , which led to the discovery of the B-25 , enables us to accelerate and enhance the uncovering and eventual recovery of our miss military personnel . "
Military records showed that one of the hoagy had six gang member . One of them is thought to have died in the crash but the remaining five were taken captive by the Japanese .
The sky above this smash site was a battleground for huge US military campaigns in the Pacific between January 1942 to the end of the war in August 1945 . During this prison term , the B-25 Bomber was the most heavily armed plane in the world , equipped with a 2,268 - kilogram ( 5,000 pounds ) bomb capacity and often 75 mm cannon and machine guns .
Project Recover contrive to regress to Papua New Guinea later on this year to progress on these discovery . With more of their heavy work , this incredible use of 21st - C technology could avail serve some very personal questions for families across the US and the wider world .
" Any find in the field is plow with the extreme care , deference , and solemnity , " added O’Connell . " There are still over 73,000 US religious service members unaccounted for from World War II , leaving families with unrequited questions about their be intimate ones . We trust that our global effort can assist to bring block and honor the service of the fallen . "
