U.S. World War II plane possibly found with bodies

On 07/08/2009
In Airplane Stories
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By Greg Quinn - Bloomberg

Canadian park workers found what they presume is a U.S. World War II aircraft that sank off the coast of Quebec in 1942 with five people trapped inside.

Sonar scans show the plane is in “very good condition,” and divers and remote-controlled vehicles will make closer inspections, Parks Canada said in a statement today.

“There is a possibility of finding human remains,” the statement said.

Canadian archaeologists presume the wreckage is an amphibious PBY 5A plane that sank in 1942 off the coast of the village of Longue-Pointe-de-Mingan. Four crew members of that plane escaped before it flooded and were rescued in rough seas by local fisherman who rowed out to save them.

U.S. and Canadian officials are cooperating to protect the site and see what can be recovered, the statement said.

“This plane is a testament to the collaboration between Canada and the U.S. during the Second World War,” Christian Paradis, Canada’s regional minister for Quebec, said today in the statement.