A team of divers has discovered missing remains from a Canadian military aeroplane that crashed in 1942.
A team of divers has discovered missing remains from a Canadian military aeroplane that crashed in 1942. Diving in temperatures as low as -1.8°C, the team combined historical, eyewitness and anecdotal reports to pinpoint the wreckage off Newfoundland.
The expedition was sponsored and led by Cornwall-based undersuit manufacturer Fourth Element, whose director Jim Standing was among the divers who found the engine and propeller, as was Colin Fairhurst of Seaways Diving, also from Cornwall. They located an engine and propeller that had been missed by the original salvage - the fuselage is yet to be found.
It was the first time anyone had seen anything of the Catalina seaplane since it disappeared into the icy waters of Battle Harbour -
some of the crew were rescued by locals, but three died in the crash. 'To see a diver hovering above the
huge engine brought all the stories to life,' said local historian Michael Earle.
