We are broadcasting to you live today from the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer.
So Tinian and Saipan served as major air bases during the final year of World War II
and there were B-29 bombers flying long-range missions at that time.
Many aircraft were lost on takeoff and landing due to mechanical problems.
The lost aircraft have great significance to American history,
but none of the B-29s that crashed in this area have ever been discovered or explored.
So this dive that we’re doing today would provide the first information on aircraft or aircraft wreckage resting in the deep water of the channel.
Definitely what we’re seeing here is a B-29.
So we’re looking at the left wing here. The airplane is upside down.
Do you think that’s evidence of an engine fire?
I have seen damage like this on other wrecks where there were engine fires, that’s why I was asking.
That metal panel that we’re looking at right now, has large spots of pitted corrosion.
There’s holes as if it had melted.
It was an engine that was designed very quickly and so they easily overheated and a lot of pilots were reluctant to fly the airplane.