THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 3, 1996 TAG: 9608030376
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
DATELINE: EAST MORICHES, N.Y. LENGTH: 59 lines
A major section of the cockpit of TWA Flight 800 - the ``nerve center'' of the downed plane - was located Friday with a remote-controlled video camera aboard a Norfolk-based Navy ship.
Investigators said Navy divers would be dispatched quickly to inspect the wreckage, which rests in about 120 feet of water and might hold clues to the cause of the second worst air disaster in U.S. history.
National Transportation Safety Board Vice Chairman Robert Francis said he hoped the damaged section - which includes the wraparound front windows and an abundance of electronics - could be lifted to the surface within 48 hours.
``It's obviously where one controls the aircraft,'' Francis said. ``It's sort of the nerve center of the aircraft. . . . The front section of the aircraft is a priority for us to see.''
One theory being considered by investigators is that a bomb secreted in the front cargo area destroyed the plane, killing all 230 aboard.
Francis expressed the hope that the discovery of the cockpit would also lead to more of the 46 bodies still missing. No bodies were found Friday, he said, while two divers became sick and spent four hours in a decompression chamber.
The cockpit was discovered in a pile of wreckage by a remote-controlled deep-sea drone lowered to the site by the salvage and rescue ship Grapple, based at Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base.
The Deep Drone 7200, as it is called, can descend more than a mile underwater and is packed with electronic equipment, including video cameras, a still camera, and sonar.
``Obviously, morale is up,'' Capt. Gordon Peterson, a Navy spokesman at the crash site, said after visiting the Grapple on Friday. ``There's a tremendous sense of commitment and professionalism that is manifested in every division of the ship.''
Navy divers from Hampton Roads have descended repeatedly to the Atlantic's bottom off Moriches Inlet from the Grapple - which arrived on the scene Monday evening - and the salvage and rescue ship Grasp.
A third local vessel, the Little Creek-based dock landing ship Oak Hill, is serving as a logistical hub for the Navy's now-extensive presence off Long Island's south-central coast.
Investigators say they still don't have enough evidence to determine what brought down the jumbo jetliner 16 days ago, and one source close to the probe said a reward of $2 million or more might be offered if the disaster is linked to sabotage.
Investigators hope to recover enough plane parts in time to reconstruct what happened in the final minutes of the flight, which broke into pieces and exploded in a fireball 11 1/2 minutes after leaving Kennedy Airport. MEMO: This story was compiled from reports by The Associated Press and
staff writer Earl Swift. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by ASSOCIATED PRESS
Workers on board the salvage and rescue ship Grapple, based at
Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base, take the Deep Drone 7200 out of
the sea. The Deep Drone is being used to search the waters.
KEYWORDS: TWA 800 CRASH RECOVERY by CNB