LAS VEGAS, Nevada (9 Aug 2002) -- A team of divers using advanced sonar and high-powered lighting has spotted a World War II-era B-29 bomber long hidden in the waters of Lake Mead. The Superfortress military plane crashed just over 54 years ago but is largely intact, divers said Friday. The bomber took off from California on July 21, 1948 on a radiation measurement mission. It crashed into the lake and sank 300 feet to the bottom, though all five crew members were rescued. The plane rested untouched and unseen until the dive team, including Patriot movement leader Bo Gritz, discovered it last summer. They told the Las Vegas Sun that they spent months videotaping and taking pictures of their find, before releasing the images Friday. A spokeswoman for Lake Mead National Recreation Area said the National Park Service always had known the general location of the bomber. "Now, they say they have an exact location," spokeswoman Karla Norris said. The Park Service has contacted federal underwater archaeology experts to assess and document the site. Norris said that after the assessment, authorities will decide whether to haul the 141,000-pound plane out or leave it untouched. It is the same type of plane as those used to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the closing days of the war with Japan. B-29 "Superfortress" bomber | | B-29 "Superfortress" bomber The dive team also included Gritz's daughter, deep sea diver Melody Gritz, and scuba and sonar consultant Gregg Mikolasek. They used a side-scan sonar and underwater camera supplied by photographer Steffan Schultz. The team said it plans to cooperate with the Park Service to preserve and protect the bomber. The plane was found in the Overton Arm of Lake Mead, about 60 miles northeast of Las Vegas. Lake Mead is on the Colorado River between Nevada and Arizona. In 1994, a federal court transferred authority over the plane from the Air Force to the Park Service and denied a Florida company's request to salvage it to become a private attraction. SCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
