Weather hampers recovery efforts at TWA crash site

Sonar detects pinging -- possibly from 'black boxes'

July 20, 1996
Web posted at: 1:00 p.m. EDT

EAST MORICHES, New York (CNN) -- Bad weather on Saturday hampered recovery efforts at the ocean crash site of TWA Flight 800, but a Navy crew has detected pinging sounds believed to be coming from the plane's so-called black boxes.

Meanwhile, speculation continued that the FBI would soon take over the investigation into why the Boeing 747 erupted into a fireball Wednesday night shortly after takeoff from New York's JFK International Airport, killing all 230 passengers and crew aboard.

The Coast Guard said Saturday morning that the concentrated search area had increased to 500 square nautical miles, due in part to 40 mph winds and 7-foot waves that have pushed debris farther from the crash site.

(162K AIFF or WAV sound of Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Jim McPherson)

Some of the boats heading out to the site were loaded with diving gear, but bad weather prevented divers from entering the water Friday and was doing the same Saturday. Winds were not expected to die down until evening.

On Friday, the rough seas plagued Navy sonar equipment brought in to help locate the jetliner's so-called "black boxes" -- the cockpit voice and flight data recorders.

But on Saturday the sonar detected pinging that could be coming from the so-called black boxes, the White House said. Sonar has also showed that large pieces of the aircraft were resting on the ocean floor.

(162K AIFF or WAV sound of Coast Guard Cmdr. Tim Sullivan)

With the search area expanding, officials are also keeping watch on area beaches in case debris washes ashore, but residents have reported no significant finds.

Investigators anxious to recover more debris

A senior federal law enforcement source told CNN Friday night that FBI investigators have found residue on wreckage from the airliner that they believe could be from a bomb, but need more of the downed plane to determine if a bomb caused the crash.

National Transportation Safety Board Vice Chairman Robert Francis said Friday that there are no indications -- from the 1 percent of the plane recovered so far -- that mechanical problems caused the crash.

"We're dealing with anomalies coming up very rarely (in aircraft) and when something happens it's almost by definition pretty much out of the ordinary," Francis said.

The NTSB is still in charge of the investigation, and FBI spokesman Mike Korten said Saturday he had "no idea" when or if the FBI would take over. Sources have told CNN that the NTSB would likely turn the investigation over to the law enforcement agency for a criminal probe.

The FBI has set up a hotline for information pertaining to the crash at 1-888-245-4636. The agency's E-mail hotline is newyork@fbi.gov.

CNN Correspondent Martin Savidge contributed to this report.

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