15 August 2007
BACACAY, ALBAY—PARTS OF an American aircraft believed to have crashed during World War II was discovered by fishermen 300 meters off the shore of Barangay Bonga, Cagraray Island in this town last Aug. 1.
Setting out to sea on his birthday to fish with four other friends, Rico Belga, 18, saw a cylindrical object half-buried in the seabed.
His group was diving to spread their fishing net under the sea.
The corals that stuck to the object’s surface denoted its antiquity—that it could have been resting there for, probably, decades.
“When I first saw it, I knew very well it was an airplane, though I was not able to see its wings. It was around 20 meters long,” Belga told the Inquirer.
Belga also said he saw pieces of scrap metal he assumed to be part of the plane.
A little more than 20 meters away, he found the aircraft’s engine.
Buoying up the engine using empty barrels, Belga’s group was able to bring it to the Bonga shoreline.
Nonito Barotilla, 33, one of the fishermen with Belga, recovered a two-inch-by-one-inch bronze tag where some information about the plane’s engine were inscribed: Shelding Assy. Radio Ignition, Type and model: 1830 908, MFG Assy no. 47469, Spec no. NON AN, Order no. NOAS 2291, Pratt and Whitney Aircraft.
Pratt and Whitney is a US aircraft engine manufacturer founded in 1860. Ephraim Aguilar, Inquirer Southern Luzon
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