For 82 years, the stays of a B-17 bomber and people aboard have been lying at the underside of the icy Baltic sea. The aircraft and the identities of those that went down with the plane have been a mystery because the wreckage was discovered in 2001, but now researchers could have uncovered a key clue on a pair of surprisingly well preserved .50-caliber machine guns. (Picture: Ivan Dmitri/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images )
The Boeing B-17 bomber is one in all history’s most recognisable aircrafts, also referred to as the Flying Fortress. It’s renowned for its role in multiple campaigns across Germany, including the Dresden bombing in February 1945. It was created to avoid radar detection by flying long-range at altitudes as high as 35,600 feet, and since its cabin remained unpressurised throughout a flight, the aircraft’s 10-member crew were required to wear suits that might withstand the skinny air and freezing temperatures. (Picture: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images).
This particular plane was first present in 2001, when an area diver reported their discovery of the wreckage to the US Defence POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). Now, researchers from Texas A&M University began collaborating with the DPAA to pinpoint the bomber’s underwater location, with a goal to finally discover the plane and its crew. Using techniques corresponding to side-scan sonar imaging and magnetometry metal detection, the team surveyed a 0.38-square-mile section of sea to locate the B-17’s exact position. Then they guided a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to any anomalies flagged through the scans to separate geological formations from actual wreckage. (Picture: Jens Lindström and Piotr Bojakowski)
The ROV footage showed a half-buried section of airfoil, which convinced Texas A&M marine archaeologist Piotr Bojakowski and volunteers from the Nordic Maritime Group to dive down and investigate themselves. However the water’s condition only allowed for lower than 10 feet of visibility. He said: ‘It’s an exciting process to see a crash site underwater. Regardless that it’s in ruins, you start to visualise all the aircraft with the engine and wings and fuel tanks. You slowly start piecing every thing together in a way that is smart and understand what happened.’ (Picture: Texas A&M College of Arts & Sciences)
During their dive, the team found amid the B-17 wreckage one piece of the puzzle that might finally discover its crew. Plainly the aircraft’s twin .50-caliber machine guns were ripped from the plane through the crash. Despite the damage, the guns have remained in good condition even after greater than 80 years underwater. They were then raised to the surface for closer inspection, and cleansing allowed the team to read the machine guns’ serial numbers. (Picture: Jens Lindström)
Professor Katie Custer Bojakowski said: ‘On the aircraft wreckage, it’s really necessary to seek out the machine guns. They’re a controlled item within the military and so aren’t only stamped with a serial number, but their location on any given aircraft was also tightly controlled throughout the war. As more archival research is completed on the serial numbers, we’ll have a positive identification of the aircraft, after which a positive identification of the individuals who were known to be lost on the aircraft.’ (Picture: Texas A&M College of Arts & Sciences)
With more research the team is confident they may find a way to ID the particular B-17 bomber, in addition to its crew. Then they will contact any of their surviving descendants and complete a protracted incomplete chapter of history. Professor Bojakowski said: ‘There’s not one single individual or agency that may start and finish this complete investigative process and research. It takes plenty of individuals, plenty of science, plenty of experiences and plenty of people. As an R1 institution, we’ve the very best facilities and students to proceed investigating underwater sites and be a part of an even bigger scientific process.’ (Picture: Texas A&M College of Arts & Sciences)
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