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Unusually long and pricey search for Kennedy plane
Clinton approved extra effort
July 21, 1999
AQUINNAH, Massachusetts (CNN) -- The bodies of John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and sister-in-law, Lauren Bessette, were found Wednesday after an unusually extensive underwater search. The U.S. Navy, Coast Guard and other federal agencies often get involved when a plane goes down in the water. But this search took on a different character Sunday night at the time when searchers would have otherwise told a waiting family that it was time to end the operation. But this operation continued after Coast Guard Rear Adm. Richard Larrabee spoke with President Bill Clinton. "He said, 'I think we have a chance to find something else because of the equipment we have here, even though it's difficult, and I'm inclined to believe because of who's involved that we ought to go on a little more,'" Clinton on Wednesday recalled the admiral as saying during the conversation. When rescue of a lost flier and his passengers turned into the recovery of a president's son, it left the realm of the ordinary. "If anyone believes that was wrong, the Coast Guard is not at fault," said Clinton. "I am. It was because I thought it was the right thing to do under the circumstances."
High cost of high-profile searchesThe circumstances echoed another search. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ship Rude is normally used to survey and map the ocean floor, but it was used to find the wreckage of TWA Flight 800 three years ago. The Rude was also used in the search for Kennedy's plane. "The TWA crash was a $60 million investigation -- the most expensive in aviation history," said former FAA Chief of Staff Michael Goldfarb. "And yet, it was critical because we had an aircraft (that) first we thought was sabotaged and then we found out it perhaps had a first-of-its-kind fuel tank problem," Goldfarb said. It's difficult to put a price tag on the Kennedy search at this point. White House officials said they will tabulate the cost "at some point" but expect it will fall within agency budgets. It will cost the Navy and Air Force and Coast Guard extra money for flying their planes and fueling their ships, but military personnel draw no extra pay. The Massachusetts State Police sent an extra 26 troopers -- including divers, to Martha's Vineyard. One official said it will show as a "peak in our operating budget," but so will a recent search for a kidnap victim.
Conditions at Kennedy plane siteAs the Rude, equipped with an advanced sonar system, mapped the Kennedy plane search area, private pleasure craft occasionally tried to move in Wednesday, but they were chased off by various warnings and Coast Guard cutters that enforced a 4,000-yard safety zone around the site. The wreckage was discovered in 116 feet of water, about seven and a half miles southwest of the Massachusetts resort island of Martha's Vineyard. Rescue officials describe the ocean floor around the crash site as "very difficult, very murky." Despite blue skies and calm waters on the surface, underwater visibility in the search area was only about six to eight feet. The water temperature was about 52 degrees Fahrenheit, and divers were only able to work for about 15 minutes at a time. Pentagon sources told CNN that wreckage from the plane was strewn over about 100 yards and was broken into a number of pieces. They said the wings and engine were separated from the fuselage and that other parts, including the tail and struts, were strewn over a wide area. In its final seconds, the plane plummeted at a rate of more than 5,000 feet a minute.
Clues to cause of crashNational Transportation Safety Board investigators want to see the Piper Saratoga II in as close to the same condition as it was when it rested on the ocean floor, Goldfarb said. Investigators hope examination of the wreckage will help them determine the cause of the crash. A remotely operated probe from the salvage ship USS Grasp first discovered a piece of the fuselage from Kennedy's single-engine plane Tuesday night. Ellsworth Peterson, the Grasp's builder, said the salvage ship should have no trouble bringing Kennedy's plane to the surface. "They're tough enough to pull an aircraft carrier around. They can salvage stuff as deep as 600 feet and 400 tons, which is of course a lot more tonnage than is needed for an airplane," Peterson said. Correspondents Charles Bierbauer, Frank Buckley and Carl Rochelle contributed to this report. RELATED STORIES: NTSB: JFK Jr.'s plane shows no in-flight break-up or fire RELATED SITES: Federal Aviation Administration
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