The USS Grapple is poised to search for voice and data recorders from Flight 990 wreckage, if weather permits

November 5, 1999
Web posted at: 10:31 a.m. EDT (1431 GMT)

In this story: On 'ping' patrol Memorial services RELATED STORIES, SITES

NEWPORT, Rhode Island (CNN) -- A U.S. Navy salvage ship and two other sonar-equipped vessels were on the scene Friday at the crash site of EgyptAir Flight 990, hoping to recover voice and data recorders that could help explain what caused the plane to plummet into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 217 aboard.

Hotlines EgyptAir information lines: In the U.S.: (800) 243-1094 Outside the U.S.: (202) 245-2244 (202) 244-1460 (202) 418-3690 FBI Information line: 1-800-473-4761    VIDEO Correspondent Ann Kellan looks at the role flight recorders can play in the investigation of a crash such as that of EgyptAir 990 Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Mike Boettcher looks at thrust reversers and how they might cause a plane to crash. (November 3) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K Use the arrow buttons below to scroll through the video gallery.    Windows Media Real    28 K 80 K     ALSO Roller coaster ride of EgyptAir 990 disputed by experts Depth comparison of various crashes American Muslims call for Defense Department investigation of EgyptAir crash Passengers and crew on EgyptAir Flight 990     MESSAGE BOARD Message Board: Plane crashes

U.S. Navy Rear Adm. William Sutton told CNN the sea appeared calm enough for the salvage vessel USS Grapple to deploy its remote-operated Deep Drone vehicle to make a grab for the so-called ''black box'' recorders.

"So far, the weather is cooperating," Sutton said. "We have about 8 1/2 foot seas on site. (The Navy ship USS) Mohawk and (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ship) Whiting have commenced with their sonar surveying and mapping of the area."

Sutton also said the Grapple had begun its work to pinpoint the location of a "ping signal" that could be from the plane's two so-called black boxes -- the flight-data recorder and cockpit voice recorder -- in waters 250 feet deep some 60 miles off the coast of the Massachusetts island of Nantucket.

Attached to a 300-foot line, the Deep Drone robot will use sonar and remote cameras to scan the ocean floor, but it cannot operate in waves of more than 8 feet. The Grapple's captain was to assess whether seas were calm enough to lower the drone, and possibly divers, to recover the data recorders.

Flight 990 crashed early Sunday morning, less than an hour after leaving New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, bound for Cairo. Investigators hope the "black boxes" will help explain the Boeing 767's behavior in the final moments of the flight.

Sutton wouldn't venture a guess on how soon it might take to retrieve the data recorders. "(There are) so many variables -- the weather, the wave height, how fast the anchoring process goes (and) how quickly we can get rigged and get the Deep Drone in the water."

He said high seas, high winds, heavy equipment and hazardous diving depths would make the operation dangerous.

The three vessels departed for the crash site late on Thursday. Sutton said there was a limited window of opportunity for Friday's search effort because weather was expected to deteriorate by evening.

Rough seas had forced recovery operations to be all but suspended on Wednesday and Thursday.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which is in charge of the crash investigation, is also responsible for taking care of 140 grieving family members, who are staying at a hotel in Newport, Rhode Island.

The NTSB says it will allow relatives of crash victims to see some of the wreckage that has been retrieved so far and taken to Quonset Point, Rhode Island across Narragansett Bay from the Newport Navy base.

A small memorial service was held Thursday in Cranston, Rhode Island, for more than a dozen Coptic Christians -- an Egyptian Christian denomination -- who were on the flight.

An Islamic prayer service was scheduled for Friday at the Newport hotel. A memorial service for all faiths was scheduled Sunday.

Correspondents Susan Candiotti, Gary Tuchman, Charles Zewe and Frank Buckley contributed to this report.

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