Search and recovery of a WW II fighter plane

In 2002 the D-Day Museum in New Orleans contacted the SANDY AIR CORP. team and asked whether SANDY AIR was able to locate and recover the wrack of the last US Airforce lost in World War 2 in Europe.

A search started which lasted more than two years and ended with the successful recovery of the lost fighter plane. Today, the aircraft is seen as the USA´s historically most important fighter aircraft from WW II.

Following an extensive investigation by our historian Ursula Falch the approximate position of the emergency landing in the Traunsee in Upper Austria is located. As a consequence, Wolfgang Falch and his team members search/scan the bottom of the lake with different Side Scan Sonars and ROVs on various missions, however for the time being without any success. The initial client withdrew from the contract and passed on all rights to a private investor. After another evaluation of the collected data and a strategic reorientation the team successfully located the well preserved fighter at a depth of 72m.

Within a few weeks the recovery is planned and carried out. This recovery is one of the few worldwide where the aircraft remains intact without any further damages whatsoever.

With this big success SANDY AIR CORP. positioned itself as one of the leading search and recovery companies whose work – as in this case, too – has almost always been accompanied and documented by film teams.