Grumman Hellcat off Miami, Florida

Late last year a submersible groundtruthing multibeam sonar survey targets stumbled upon a WWII-era Grumman Hellcat resting in 245 feet of water off Miami, Florida.

A few days ago we went out to dive the site and get some good video of the aircraft. You might also notice a lionfish or two in the footage ;>)

To date, the U.S. Navy has not confirmed the actual airframe or the circumstances of the loss, however, it was likely a training accident.

Footage was shot with a Canon 5D MKIII with a 17-40mm lens and twin SOLA 1200 lights. Due to hazy surface waters, it was quite dim at depth so I had the ISO jacked up a bit.

Be sure to watch in HD.

Cheers,

Mike

It looks like the props aren't bent - if that's the case, they weren't turning when the plane hit the water.

What gas mixtures and what was the dive plan?

It looks like the props aren't bent - if that's the case, they weren't turning when the plane hit the water.

 

What gas mixtures and what was the dive plan?

Yeah, and the wheels are obviously up and flaps extended. Odds are the guy survived the ordeal.

Diving 10/50 diluent - had planned for a short 20 minute bottom time but conditions were so nice it was closer to 30...total run time was 90 minutes.

Cheers,

Mike

Great video. Very enjoyable and interesting.

You're right about the number of lionfish there - there sure are a lot of them, and they appear to be well fed.