What a incredibly interesting project.
Another approach would be to try to identify the different aircraft carriers that operated in that area. This would have been late war as Formosa was deep in Japanese controlled waters. The TBM Avenger was a large airplane (the largest I think the Navy operated off of carriers) so you could try researching the Essex class as it was the largest at the time.
From a quick google check I identified 13 Essex class aircraft carriers built in 1943 and 1944. The list of pilots would be well into the tens of thousands.
If you could obtain the list of personnel assigned to a particular carrier known to have operated around there in that time period it may give you a clue. Of course by that time our fleet was large and different task forces moved rapidly through the areas.
I am curious about the you usually find with the remains of these servicemen. Are there any papers such as a partial letter or clothing with them? Or has the ravages of time destroyed them? What items and information help you identify the remains? Do you try DNA familiarity searches? Or is that to broad to be of any use?
If your search to identify the remains is successful it is worthy of a news article or even a TV Show report.
A question for the Victory collectors where only pilots issued a revolver? If so the search could be narrowed down to Officers as pilots were commissioned officers.
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