In the Spring of 2023 Members of the National Park Service Submerged Resources Center (SRC) and the Air Sea Heritage Foundation assisted with a Defense POW / MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) mission to locate a missing WWII aircraft in the Pacific atoll of Kwajalein. SRC utilized systematic remote-sensing survey operations to cover 7.5 square kilometers of the lagoon floor.

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At the conclusion of the survey, the team documented several aircraft wrecks and shipwrecks located in the atoll including the area near Roi-Namur called the "airplane graveyard" with assistance from the Kwajalein MIA Project.

 

This airplane graveyard, as well as other WWII aircraft in the lagoon, represent the most comprehensive underwater collection of WWII aviation technology in the world. The images and 3D models were produced in partnership with Pacific Historic Parks to develop educational materials about WWII aviation from an underwater perspective.