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We are broadcasting to you live today from the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer.

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So Tinian and Saipan served as major air bases during the final year of World War II

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and there were B-29 bombers flying long-range missions at that time.

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Many aircraft were lost on takeoff and landing due to mechanical problems.

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The lost aircraft have great significance to American history,

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but none of the B-29s that crashed in this area have ever been discovered or explored.

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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.

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Definitely what we’re seeing here is a B-29.

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So we’re looking at the left wing here. The airplane is upside down.

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Do you think that’s evidence of an engine fire?

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I have seen damage like this on other wrecks where there were engine fires, that’s why I was asking.

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That metal panel that we’re looking at right now, has large spots of pitted corrosion.

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There’s holes as if it had melted.

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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.