| In December 2012, the Defense Department’s Joint POW/MIA Personnel Accounting Command confirmed the crash site of a WWII Coast Guard Grumman Duck rescue aircraft which had been missing for 70 years with three men aboard. The Duck was lost near Koge Bay, Greenland on the way back from picking up a crewmember from a crashed B-17 bomber. Following the loss of the Duck, the remaining B-17 crew spent 6 months trapped on the ice before being rescued. Ironically, the Duck crashed rescuing crew from a B-17 that itself had been diverted from its transit to Europe to participate in a search and rescue of yet another lost aircraft. |
| The expedition team isolated target sites by using historical information, ground penetrating radar, a magnetometer and metal detection equipment. The team then melted five, six-inch-wide holes deep into the ice and lowered a specially designed camera. At approximately 38 feet below the surface in the second hole, the team observed black cables consistent with wiring used in WWII-era J2F-4 amphibious Grumman aircraft. The discovery occured moments prior to evacuation by helicopters to avoid a potentially deadly storm. |
| Come out this Saturday, March 23rd, at noon to hear Lou Sapienza, CEO of North South Polar, Inc., recall the successful expedition to find this aircraft and his plans for its recovery. It’s at Kilo-7 at Paine Field.Find out more at http://historicflight.org/hf/. |
