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Divers scour sea floor to recover more of Gulf Air aircraft wreckage |
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August 26, 2000
MANAMA (AP) - Dozens of U.S. and Bahraini divers scoured the sandy sea floor Friday in search for more bits of wing and fuselage from Gulf Air flight 072 as American and French aviation experts began to gather here to take part in an investigation into the cause of the crash. A total of 143 people, including 36 children, died in the Wednesday crash. Gulf Air was preparing to ship both "black boxes" - the flight data and voice cockpit recorders - to London for analysis Friday, said Gulf Air spokesman Stephen Tuckwell. He said it could take weeks to before the data was recovered. Transportation Minister Sheik Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa said he was hopeful the recorders would provide some clues. "Any news, anything out of it would be a help," he said, but would not comment on possible causes. Bahrain's State television had quoted witnesses soon after the crash who described seeing a fire in one of the aircraft's engines; Gulf Air officials said there was no fire and other witnesses have said they did not see flames. Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy here said air accident investigators from the National Transportation and Safety Board were en route to Manama Friday to join Bahraini investigators in determining whether engine failure was responsible for the crash. Six French government experts and a representative of Airbus Industries arrived Thursday evening to look into the crash - the sixth for an Airbus 320 in the last 12 years. Flight 072 crashed in shallow water near shore and Ali Ahmedi, a spokesman and an acting vice president for Gulf Air, said there was no indication the pilot was anticipating an emergency landing. "The pilot did not make any kind of statements of problems in the plane," Ahmedi said. Most traces of the 143 victims had been collected in the hours after the Cairo-Bahrain flight crashed. Luggage and clothing that floated to the surface were removed so they wouldn't be swept away with the tides. Like the plane, many of the bodies were shattered, and relatives struggled to identify loved ones so they could claim their remains for burial. At a hotel in the capital, relatives sobbed as a Gulf Air official, his voice choking, read out names of their loved ones listed as victims. They were asked to make identifications from photos taken after the bodies were recovered. "This is the worst day of my life. I lost a part of me," Khalifa al-Hashil, 45, of Saudi Arabia said. His 35-year-old brother, Mohammed, died in the crash. Bahraini Crown Prince Sheik Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa has personally directed the salvage efforts to date, and police on Friday said they were setting up road blocks around the port in anticipation of his return to the crash site. Gulf Air said 135 passengers and eight crew members were on board. Sixty-three passengers were Egyptian, 34 Bahraini, 12 Saudi Arabian, nine Palestinian, six from the United Arab Emirates, three Chinese, two British and one each from Canada, Oman, Kuwait, Sudan and Australia as well as a diplomatic courier from the United States. Two crew members were Bahrainis with one each from Oman, the Philippines, Poland, India, Morocco and Egypt. |