WASHINGTON (Sept. 27, 2022) — The National Transportation Safety Board, U.S. Navy and Island County personnel began recovery operations this morning for the wreckage of the DHC-3 Turbine Otter that crashed on September 4 off Whidbey Island, Washington. The team will be conducting work in 12-hour shifts around the clock.
The two barges for the operations moved into position yesterday and anchored in proximity to the aircraft wreckage. One is outfitted with a crane which will be used in the lifting operation and the other barge holds the remotely operated vehicle, or ROV.
Once the ROV confirms the aircraft wreckage, a survey of the wreckage site will be conducted. The survey’s focus is to visualize the wreckage and document its condition and position. After assessing the wreckage site, the team will decide how best to lift it out of the water based on the condition of the wreckage. The lifting process may be a direct lift by attaching cables to the wreckage and raising it to the barge with a crane or the ROV will be used to place smaller sections of the wreckage into baskets to be lifted.
The Deep Drone 8000 ROV has two multifunction manipulator arms, video cameras and is equipped with sonar and lighting systems. The ROV requires a team of four specialists to operate the equipment. There is a navigator and an operator for each manipulator arm while the unit is underwater.
The preliminary report for the investigation is available for download on NTSB’s CAROL database.
To report an incident/accident or if you are a public safety agency, please call 1-844-373-9922 or 202-314-6290 to speak to a Watch Officer at the NTSB Response Operations Center (ROC) in Washington, DC (24/7).
