Underwater Search for Lost WWII Bomber Kicks Off – South Korea and US Partners in Historic Mission

The MND Agency for KIA Recovery & Identification (MAKRI), led by Lee Geun Won, and the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) have announced a joint underwater mission to locate the wreckage of a U.S. bomber and the remains of its pilot, which crashed in the Haeundae area of Busan during the Korean War.

This marks the second joint underwater investigation between South Korea and the U.S. since last year. The collaboration began with a request from the U.S. side, followed by discussions in July and a site survey before the investigation began this month.

The focus of the current investigation is a B-26 bomber from the U.S. 5th Air Force that took off from K-9 Airfield in Busan around January 1953 during the Korean War and subsequently crashed into the sea. The DPAA estimates that three U.S. servicemen lost their lives in this incident.

The joint investigation will be conducted in the following order: towing an area of approximately about 4.6 square miles off the coast of Haeundae with underwater detection equipment such as side-scan sonar and magnetometers, and if they detect any unusual object, proceeding further investigation on the wreckage in the seabed by dispatching divers or using remote-controlled detectors.

The investigation will involve 22 personnel, including specialists from the MAKRI and divers and underwater archaeologists from the DPAA. Further, the South Korean Navy Operations Command and the Busan Coast Guard will provide maritime operational weather information and assist in situation management.

 The MAKRI and DPAA will evaluate further investigation and consider whether to excavate based on the results of this joint underwater investigation.

Captain Patrick Hennessy, the DPAA investigation team leader, stated, “We approach this joint underwater investigation with a sense of duty to take responsibility for the heroes who sacrificed for our nation. If there is even a faint possibility, we will not give up and concentrate all our efforts.”

The head of the MAKRI, Lee Geun Won, who prosecuted the joint underwater mission, expressed, “Through this investigation, we expect to strengthen the collaboration of joint recovery operation between South Korea and the U.S. During the investigation period, we will do our utmost to find traces of the U.S. servicemen who protected the freedom and prosperity of the Republic of Korea.”