Tillsonburg — July 23, 2004 — The Dive Recovery Team of the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association (CHAA) will be conducting a detailed survey of the St. Lawrence Seaway near Wolfe Island in its efforts to locate a World War II trainer aircraft that crashed in 1944.

The Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association created its Dive Recovery Team with the goal of identifying, locating and recovering the 15 Harvards that reportedly crashed in the waters around Ontario during the 1940s. After three years of investigation including flight plans, crash reports, eye-witness reports and salvage attempts, the Team will be conducting a survey of the channel near Wolfe Island where AJ538 and a secondary target, AJ657, are believed to have crashed.

Partnering with McMaster University’s School of Geography and Geology and Northern Tech Diver, the search will be employing some world class technology. Side Scan Sonar will be used to provide an image of the bottom of the channel. A Magnetometer will be towed behind the search boat to identify concentrations of ferrous metals like a plane engine, and a Sub-Bottom Profiler will be used to look past the bottom and into the sediment which would reveal the missing aircraft if it is buried.

The search will commence on Monday, August 2nd, 2004 with the Search Boat scanning a grid pattern in the target area. This team of Walther Irie - the CHAA Dive Recovery Team Chairman – along with Dr. Joe Boyce, and Dr. Ed Reinhardt of McMaster University, will identify and prioritize likely targets. On Wednesday the 4th, CHAA Dive Team members Aaron Happl, Chris Venn and Bill Tully will arrive and begin investigating potential targets.

Once the aircraft has been located and an archaeological survey completed, the viability of recovery will be assessed. Recovered Harvard parts would be used to keep the existing five Harvards flying, and an airframe may be used to create a memorial for the airmen that died in training for whom there is no monument.

For more information, press only:
Chris Venn, 416.433.6461
For more information about the CHAA Dive Recovery Team:
http://www.chaa-recovery.ca
 

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