Brindisi 2018 Report

The “Lost Bombers of Brindisi” expedition took place from November 3rd to November 17th, 2018. The expedition’s goal was to locate the wreckage of two Polish four-engine Halifax and Liberator aircraft from the 1586th Special Purpose Squadron stationed in Brindisi, Italy, and the wreckage of an American Consolidated B-24 heavy bomber from the 885th Bomb Squadron. These aircraft crashed into the sea in 1944-1945 while landing at Campo Casale Airport in Brindisi under mysterious circumstances.

The expedition was organized by the Shipwreck Expeditions Association in cooperation with the Polish Aviation Historical Foundation in Warsaw, the Institute of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw, the University of Warsaw Museum, and the Pilecki Institute in Warsaw. The Association also invited archaeologist Prof. Timmy Gambin from the University of Malta, one of the most outstanding specialists in the use of sonar equipment and the interpretation of sonar images, and Prof. Chris Clark from the Autonomous Intelligent Robots Laboratory in California, who delegated two students to the expedition with a specialized AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle), enabling precise, autonomous search of a designated area.