The Last Missing WASP

Trailer for a forthcoming documentary by Dan Crowell, a former dive boat skipper turned underwater cinematographer and TV producer. The film will chronicle the search for Gertrude Tompkins Silver, who flew for the all-female World War II unit known as the Women Airforce Service Pilots. On October 26, 1944, Tompkins took off from Los Angeles’ Mines Field in a P-51 Mustang and was never seen again—the only WASP still unaccounted for. The action focuses on an October 2009 diving survey of Southern California’s Santa Monica Bay, organized by the Missing Aircraft Recovery Team (MAST), in conjunction with other search groups. See the article on MAST in our September 2010 issue. Video: Dan Crowell/Deep Explorers (8:44)