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Has this been tried in aviation history?

To make airplane sea crashes easier to find, can we use a colored liquid that is lighter than water, environmentally-friendly and safe, with fluorescent properties so that if an airplane crashes into the ocean, this liquid would leak out and float to the surface. During the day, the color is noticeable by satellite and by night it glows.

Does something like this exist? Can it be easily implemented? Has it already been attempted?

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    $\begingroup$ Rough approximation: How many gallons of this stuff would you need for it to not dissipate in minutes? How much would that weigh? How often to airplanes crash in the sea? The cost and complexity just doesn't even come close to the benefit. $\endgroup$
    – abelenky
    Feb 16, 2016 at 13:41
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    $\begingroup$ Good points. Those are questions that I was looking for to see if anyone has already tried it. I'm thinking in light of the Malaysia flight. $\endgroup$
    – Joseph Shih
    Feb 16, 2016 at 13:55
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    $\begingroup$ For spacecraft splashdowns (certainly Gemini, maybe others) they used a green marker dye, but I don't know how long it lasted. That would be a good thing to start with as they must have tested how long the traces were visible when choosing it. $\endgroup$
    – Andy
    Feb 16, 2016 at 13:56
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    $\begingroup$ prestodye.com/sea-dye-markers says "30 to 40 minutes", depending on sea conditions. Apparently there's a standard: MIL-S-17980D. $\endgroup$
    – Roger Lipscombe
    Feb 16, 2016 at 13:59
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    $\begingroup$ For spacecraft splashdowns, the recovery teams know where it is within a very small area. For lost aircraft, the area is huge. To spot the die, you would need a geostationary satellite or, redeploy a military one. You can't do that in time before the die has dissipated and, or, been spread by the currents. I really can't see any benefits to marking a crash site with die. $\endgroup$
    – Simon
    Feb 16, 2016 at 17:17

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Thanks to those who commented and provided answer-worthy comments. Thanks!

What is already in existance today:

@Andy commented:

For spacecraft splashdowns (certainly Gemini, maybe others) they used a green marker dye, but I don't know how long it lasted. That would be a good thing to start with as they must have tested how long the traces were visible when choosing it.

@RogerLipscombe commented:

prestodye.com/sea-dye-markers says "30 to 40 minutes", depending on sea conditions. Apparently there's a standard: MIL-S-17980D.

And for the challenges:

@abelenky commented:

Rough approximation: How many gallons of this stuff would you need for it to not dissipate in minutes? How much would that weigh? How often to airplanes crash in the sea? The cost and complexity just doesn't even come close to the benefit.

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