Effort to raise floatplane wreckage off Whidbey Island to begin Sept. 26

The National Transportation Safety Board and the U.S. Navy have announced the recovery plan for the floatplane that crashed Sept. 4 off Whidbey Island, according to a media release.

Preparations for the recovery of the wreckage is ongoing, with the main recovery effort to begin Sept. 26.

A work class remotely operated vehicle (ROV) called the Deep Drone 8000, a barge, and a crane will be used to recover the wreckage from the seafloor.

Once the barge is in place, it will become a 24/7 operation.

Not only will the ROV collect smaller pieces of debris into baskets, but it will also connect the wreckage to the crane to be lifted to the barge.

On Sept. 4, a floatplane that departed Friday Harbor heading for Renton crashed into the water off Whidbey Island, killing all 10 people on board.

Witnesses said the plane was in level flight before it entered a slight climb, then pitched into a near-vertical descent into the water. Witnesses said the plane was “spinning,” “rotating” or “spiraling” during parts of its fall.

A sonar survey located the wreckage at a depth of about 190 feet on Sept. 12.

©2022 Cox Media Group