Aircraft Wreck Search and Location

The MS 1000 is an efficient search tool for finding and documenting aircraft crashes. Unlike side-scan sonars, which must be towed to obtain readable images, scanning sonars are usually deployed with a tripod. When in use, the operator has the time advantage to make multiple scans of the same target at different scale ranges and view at different resolutions.

Once a suspected target is identified, the GPS is integrated with the MS 1000 software, using the MS 1000 “Trackplotter” module to display sonar coverage and georeferenced targets. The system can then be used – even with zero visibility – to effectively guide a diver or ROV to any destination.

The Hawker Hurricane aircraft was originally developed as a British single-engine aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF). A total of 14,000 Hawker Hurricane aircraft were built by the end of 1944 and were in service in all campaigns of World War II. The plane shattered the ice when it was forced to land on the frozen lake, falling into it, and search and rescue was unsuccessful until “Peter Diving Services” used the MS 1000 to locate it. Before that, the plane had been “lost” for 50 years.

The above sonar image was collected by simply attaching a high-resolution scanning sonar head to the cable of the survey vessel. Sonar system configuration for locating and recording aircraft wreckage:

-PC with MS1000 sonar PC software

-MS 1000 interface unit (operates at 120/240 VAC or 9-30 VDC supply voltage)

-Kevlar cable (recommended length 75-100 meters)

-675 kHz high-resolution scanning sonar probe with sector beam transducer with compass option, or multi-frequency high-resolution sonar probe

-Tripod

-Manual controller

-GPS