Tim descending on the wreck
The problem with airplane wrecks is that they are very small targets without any good areas to tie into. The fact that she was also lying at a depth of 60m, meant she posed a very difficult target for any technical diving team.
With this in mind our team set out from Koh Tao and travelled overnight on our converted fishing vessel. The conditions were excellent for the search, flat and calm with little wind. But even so she proved a difficult target with two unsuccessful shots on the sonar return. We put the last shot in after increasing the weight and reducing the size of the buoy, as the current on the mark was causing our lazy shot to run out and drag along the bottom.
The third shot proved to be successful and we descended on the nose of the plane. With the heavy narcosis due to the depth and the work rate on the descent, it took some time to figure out the outline. The fuselage lies mainly intact with one wing still attached and engine in place.
We retrieved what we believed to be part of the undercarriage which had some numbers with which we hoped to identify the wreck. It later turned out to be part of the co-pilots seat. After speaking to an aviation expert we were informed that the maker’s plate for the aircraft lied just behind the position where we recovered the co-pilots seat frame.
After doing some more research we were told by a retired air force Colonel that the debris was that of a civilian C47, not a military version.
The wreck is still diveable but only at certain times of year, due the strong currents in the surrounding area.
