An expedition to recover the wreckage of the aircraft flown by polar explorer Roald Amundsen set sail from the Norwegian city of Tromso today.

Amundsen has been considered a Norwegian national hero since leading the first team to reach the South Pole in 1911. Amundsen disappeared in June 1928 when his aircraft, a Latham 47 sea plane, went down in the Arctic Sea near Spitsbergen as he was flying to the aid of another polar explorer, the Italian Umberto Nobile.
 

The two-week expedition, which has been organised by a film company, is being led by New Zealander Rob McCallum. Two Navy ships will carry out the search, using an underwater robot in and around Bear Island. Experts believe the Latham 47 was about 19 nautical miles north of Bear Island when it sent its final radio message.