One reason for the new focus on Vietnam’s undersea crash sites is that many land-based leads have been exhausted, said Andrew Pietruszka, lead archaeologist for Project Recover, a nonprofit organisation
Two American B-52 bombers collided over the South China Sea as they approached a target in what was then South Vietnam in 1967. Rescue units from the Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard were unable to find six other men, including a navigator from New York, Maj. Paul A. Avolese though seven crew members escaped.
Last year, scientists found one of the B-52s and recovered Avolese’s remains while they were scanning the seafloor.
It was only last year that scientists found one of the B-52s and recovered Avolese’s remains while they were scanning the seafloor
“It was very humbling to be diving a site that turned out as hallowed ground, and realizing that maybe we were in a position to help bring closure back to families that had been missing this lost aviator,” said Eric J. Terrill, one of two divers who had descended to the wreck. In this case, for the first time, American investigators had looked at an underwater site near Vietnam’s long coastline using high-tech robots.
“Robotic underwater and surface vehicles are rapidly becoming indispensable tools for ocean science and exploration,” said Rear Adm. Nancy Hann, who manages a fleet of nine aircraft and 16 research and survey vessels for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“They have proven to be a force multiplier when it comes to mapping the seafloor, locating and surveying wrecks and other sunken objects, and collecting data in places not easily accessed by ships and other vehicles,” Hann said.
One reason for the new focus on Vietnam’s undersea crash sites is that many land-based leads have been exhausted, said Andrew Pietruszka, lead archaeologist for Project Recover, a nonprofit organisation.
