U.S. Team Searches Italy for Missing WWII Pilot

A team led by the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and Louisiana State University New Orleans is conducting excavations at a suspected World War II aircraft crash site in central Italy. The multinational effort includes archaeologists and students from the University of Innsbruck, Tulane University ROTC cadets, and Italian specialists. Using ground‑penetrating radar and traditional digs, the group hopes to locate and recover the remains of missing U.S. aircrew members believed to have been lost in the crash. The mission reflects ongoing U.S. commitments to account for service members absent since the war and demonstrates collaborative archaeological work across the United States and Italy.