Mark retired from a civilian position with the Naval Surface Weapons Center in 2023. He has been obsessed with all things aviation since he was a kid and has owned four aircraft, including biplanes and aerobatic. He actively searches for historic shipwrecks, is a certified EMT, and is an active member of Piedmont Search and Rescue in Virginia.

Mike retired from the US military in 2002. He began researching aircraft crash sites as a teenager in the 1970s. He founded the Millville Army Air Field museum in 1983 to memorialize fourteen Army Air
Forces pilots who had died there in airplane accidents during WWII. Most of the earliest displays in the museum were artifacts he found buried around the former army air base. He has since researched, documented and explored dozens of sites in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, Georgia, South Dakota, Michigan, Delaware, North Carolina, and France. He has assisted in researching crash sites in all fifty states and over forty countries.

Allen’s interest in aircraft crashes was kindled in 1998 when he stumbled across a crashed aircraft while hunting. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of crashes in West Virginia. Allen is a lifelong resident of West Virginia and a former truck driver. His beloved dog Mikey also has a keen interest in searching for historic crashes and always accompanies him on searches.