"The last resting place of a US World War Two bomber that crashed into the sea moments after take-off from Bermuda has been found by a research team. The B-24 plummeted into Castle Harbour moments after it took off from the airport, then Kindley Field, in February 1945, with the loss of five of its nine-strong crew. Now its wreck has been identified by a team from the University of Delaware and further work is expected to be carried out on the plane. Art Trembanis, associate professor in the University of Delaware’s College of Earth, Ocean and Environment, said: “The B-24 was one of the most widely produced planes ever, so this isn’t a huge historical find. “What we’re really interested in is locating wreckage to help close cases of missing aircrew.” A spokeswoman for the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences said the heavily loaded aircraft had taken off at about 10.20pm on what was expected to be a routine ferry flight from Bermuda to Lagens in Portugal. Four of the flight’s nine crew members were rescued from the sea and the bodies of two others were recovered, but three more were never found. Dr Trembanis, who teaches an environmental field robotics course, suggested that he and his students could test their skills in Bermuda with Bios. He said: “With this technology, I was able to design a real-life educational experience for my students. “I gave them the historical accounts on the bomber and had them work as a team to plan and execute a search-and-mapping mission in Castle Harbour.” Dr Trembanis also contacted Philippe Rouja, custodian of Historic Wrecks for the Bermuda Government, to discuss the mission and get more information on the potential wreck location and surrounding environment. Mr Rouja thought the area had been dredged several times, so the plane would have already been discovered if it was there. He said: “Since Art was doing this as a fully funded field school component, it was hard to pass up the opportunity to search for this piece of history.” www.royalgazette.com/news/article/20190315/research-team-finds-crashed-us-war-bomber?fbclid=IwAR16ZIKrD4cgD15no-nfPSgTrrCmnmKOE8GI5Zhw6ADS6d9kgzwJgv_kia4
