Additional Airplane Parts Thought To Be From 1940 Crash Also Found In East Central Florida

Volunteers combing an area in east-central Florida where a Navy SBD-5 Dauntless is thought to have gone down in 1940 have uncovered additional airplane parts, and possible human remains.

The Daytona Beach News Journal reports that the plane went down on a training mission after departing from what was then DeLand Naval Air Station. Searchers from the Central Florida Metal Detecting Club have discovered 30 or 40 items possibly related to the accident, but none carrying the "bureau number" that would positively identify the airplane.

Orange City Search & Rescue personnel have also brought in cadaver dogs which are specially trained to detect human remains and ignore things like animal carcasses. The dogs have reportedly focused on a single spot where human remains may be located. Pat Totillo, a volunteer and trainer with K-9 Search & Rescue of Orange City, said the dogs are capable of alerting on something as small as a single tooth.

The owner of the property contacted the DeLand Naval Air Station Museum last year about parts of an airplane he'd been finding on his land for three years, according to the report. The museum contacted the Navy, which began the investigation.

(SBD-5 pictured in file photo)

FMI: www.delandnavalairmuseum.org