AUV Discovers Svalbard Helicopter Wreck

The wreckage of a helicopter that crashed in Svalbard, Norway, in 2003 has been discovered by a Hydroid REMUS100 AUV. The helicopter's crew escaped alive, but the wreck had not been seen since it sank into the Adventfjorden bay. Mark Moline, a professor from California Polytechnic State University, USA, who is currently a Fulbright Arctic Chair at the University Centre in Svalbard, was conducting research into climate-related changes to the Adventfjorden's ocean floor. When he downloaded the images from an oceanographic survey in September 2011, he discovered that the REMUS had photographed the missing helicopter wreck.  

The wreck is located in shallow waters close to the north shore of the Adventfjorden, where bigger boats are unable to travel, according to professor Moline. He currently has no formal plans to investigate the helicopter wreck further, but he may attempt to explore it again next summer. In addition to his ongoing oceanographic research, professor Moline also now hopes to use the REMUS to locate a German plane that crashed in the Adventfjorden during World War II.