Oct 19, 2000

Something fishy is going on with a Navy bomber that was sunk this summer in the Gulf of Mexico as part of an offshore reef program.

It's missing.

All 20,000 pounds of it.

The Navy P-2V Neptune was sunk to the bottom of the Gulf on July 2 attached to a barge. It came to rest 45 feet deep some 11 miles west of Dunedin's Hurricane Pass.

This month, divers went down to check on it after Pinellas County officials heard rumors first that the plane was damaged, and then that it was gone.

Sure enough: Divers found the barge, but not the plane. It apparently broke loose from the barge - perhaps battered by the current from Hurricane Gordon last month - and disappeared.

``You are looking at Mother Nature and her forces,'' said Norman Roche, spokesman for Pinellas County utilities. ``You can only assume the current worked on it and tore it away.''

Officials doubt that anyone hijacked the aircraft from its watery grave.

``Anything is possible, but that would have to be an awfully intense prank,'' Roche said.

It is suspected the plane shattered into several pieces. Divers found a 4-foot-square piece of the tail section at the site, and the landing gear was still embedded in the barge.

The Florida Military Aviation Museum donated the aircraft, which was supposed to be part of an artificial reef called Military Park.

When it flew during the 1950s, the plane weighed 40,000 pounds. The wings and engines were removed before the aircraft made its long, slow voyage to its final resting place.

Or what was thought to be its final resting place.

``We hoped it would last forever,'' Roche said. ``We thought this would be a neat icon for the site. It's sad.''

The county has even put out an all-points bulletin of sorts for anyone who might spot the wayward plane. It also has notified the Clearwater harbor master, Caladesi Island State Park, Honeymoon Island State Park and Sand Key Park of the situation.