This photo taken Wednesday, July 4, 2012 and provided by the Turkish military, shows the helmet of one of the Turkish pilots of an RF-4 Phantom jet which was shot down by Syrian forces June 22, 2012. Turkey says the plane was hit in international airspace, but Syria insists it was flying low inside Syrian airspace. The bodies of two Turkish pilots were recovered from the seabed on Thursday July 5, 2012 after U.S. ocean explorer Robert Ballard, best known for discovering the wreck of the Titanic, helped locate them nearly two weeks after their jet was shot down by Syria. A Turkish official said Ballard, aboard his deep-sea exploration vessel R/V Nautilus, found the bodies Wednesday 8.6 nautical miles off the Syrian coast after the Turkish navy had pinpointed the area. (AP Photo/Turkish Military)
ANKARA, Turkey - A Turkish official says a vessel owned by U.S. ocean explorer Robert Ballard, best known for discovering the wreck of the Titanic, has located the bodies of two Turkish pilots on the sea bed nearly two weeks after their jet was shot down by Syria.
The official said Thursday that Ballard's deep-sea exploration vessel, E/V Nautilus, located the bodies Wednesday after the Turkish navy had pinpointed the area. Syrian forces shot down the RF-4 plane June 22.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
Ballard led the international team that discovered the RMS Titanic in 1985, and also found the wrecks of the battleship Bismarck and the World War II PT-109 torpedo patrol boat that John F. Kennedy commanded.
