NatGeo documents salvage of Tuskegee Airman’s lost WWII plane wreckage

In April 1944, Tuskegee Air Force pilot Lt. Frank Moody’s plane broke down during a routine training mission. Moody lost control of the plane and crashed into the cold waters of Lake Huron, killing him. His body was recovered two months later, but the plane was left at the bottom of the lake. In recent years, a team of divers operating out of Tuskegee Air Force Base has Tuskegee Airmen National History Museum Police in Detroit are frantically recovering various parts from Moody’s plane in an effort to determine what caused the pilot’s fatal crash.

It is this painstaking process that Real Red Taila new National Geographic documentary narrated by Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbott Elementary SchoolThe documentary features interviews with underwater archaeologists working to recover the plane, first-hand testimony from Moody’s fellow aviators, and stunning underwater footage of the wreckage itself.

of Tuskegee Airmen They were the first black pilots in the U.S. military and paved the way for the desegregation of the military. They were nicknamed “Red Tails” because they painted the tails of their P-47s red. (They initially flew Bell P-39 Airacobras, like Moody’s downed plane, and later P-51 Mustangs.) In March 1941, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt flew with the Airmen’s chief instructor, C. Alfred Anderson, helping to bolster public support for the fledgling unit. The Airmen were praised for their skill and bravery in combat during World War II, and members received three Distinguished Unit Commendations, 96 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 14 Bronze Stars, 60 Purple Hearts, and at least one Silver Star.

Father and son team David and Drew Rosinski discovered the remains of Moody’s plane while working to clean up a sunken barge in 2014. They found what looked like a car door lying on the lake bottom, but it was a World War II-era P-39 door. The red paint on the tail proved that a “Red Tail” had been piloting it, and it was ultimately identified as Moody’s plane. The Rosinskis then worked with Michigan marine archaeologist Wayne Lusardi to investigate the remarkably well-preserved wreckage. So far, they have recovered more than 600 pieces of debris, including engines, propellers, gearboxes, machine guns, and a 37mm main gun.

Ars caught up with Lusardi to learn more about this fascinating ongoing project.

Ars Technica: The area where Moody’s plane was found is known as “Shipwreck Alley.” Why is there so much ship and plane wreckage in the area?

Wayne Lusardi: Well, the Great Lakes are big, and people who haven’t been there don’t really realize that they’re literally inland seas. As a result, maritime trade has been thriving on the lakes for hundreds of years. Where there are a lot of ships, there are usually a lot of accidents. That’s just the way it is. Some parts of the Great Lakes, and especially in Michigan, are very dangerous to navigate. There are hidden reefs, submerged rock piles miles offshore, and rocks very close to the shipping lanes that often snag ships. Bad storms come in quickly, and the seas are very rough. All of this combines to sink many historic ships. There are about 1,500 shipwrecks in Michigan alone, and maybe closer to 10,000 on the entire Great Lakes.

The biggest cause of planes going missing offshore here is fog, especially before better navigation systems were installed, where pilots would get lost in the fog and crash into lakes or go missing. Thunderstorms, other weather conditions that affect aviation, and ice storms are also frequent.

Like commercial shipping, the history of aviation on the Great Lakes is extensive, and many of the largest cities on the East Coast span the Great Lakes. It is not surprising that these cities were first populated on the waterfront, shoreline, and began to be connected by aviation in the early 20th century. The military included the Great Lakes in its training programs because the conditions encountered on the Great Lakes, flying over large bodies of water and strafing and bombing remote areas, mimicked the conditions pilots would see in the European theater during World War I. When Selfridge Field near Detroit was developed by the Army Air Corps in 1917, it was the northernmost military air base in the United States and was used to train pilots to fly in all weather conditions to prepare them for Europe.