PBY-5A Catalina Crash Site | Second World War 1939-1945, grave, aircraft crash site

 Second World War 1939-1945, grave, aircraft crash site

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Approximate location. The site is identified by US Fish & Wildlife as "Kiska Area 5" and is a five acre site. Bureau number unknown; assigned to US Navy VP-43. The plane crashed on 14 June 1942 after it exploded when it was hit by Japanese anti-aircraft fire. The wreckage was located in 1943 after Kiska was retaken and the remains of the seven crew members were buried in a common grave. The site was simply marked as “Seven U.S.N. Airmen” with a wooden marker. Teams from the American Graves Registration Service attempted to reach the crash site in 1946 and 1947 but were hindered by heavy snow and the remains were declared non-recoverable.

The site was rediscovered by a wildlife biologist in 2001 and investigated by a team from Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) in 2003. JPAC was able to identify all of the seven crew members. Plane wreckage and possibly some crew remains are left.

www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/pby/kiska.html
aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=175378
www.stripes.com/news/team-off-to-aleutians-to-recover-r...