China Airlines (CAL) has contracted US multinational Global Industries, a marine and offshore engineering contractor, to assist with efforts to recover the wreckage and "black boxes" of the China Airlines Boeing 747-200 which crashed near Penghu on May 25, CAL Vice President James Chang (
Fifty-two experts and divers from Global Industries are expected to arrive in Penghu on June 14, bringing with them the Dynamically Positioned Dive Support Vessel (DPDSV) to support the marine recovery operations.
Chang made the announcement at a press conference yesterday while reporting on the progress of recovery efforts.
Five experts from American Underwater Search and Survey Ltd (AUSS) arrived last week at CAL's invitation to work with local salvage workers in the recovery efforts.
AUSS has an exclusive contract with the US National Transportation Safety Board.
Recovery of the wreckage and the so-called "black boxes" -- the digital flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder -- has been impeded by choppy seas and the strong ocean currents.
"Rough seas have made recovery work extremely difficult for the local search team. We need the help of professionals with the most advanced equipment, such as Global Industries, to make progress on our recovery operation," Chang said.
Global Industries' DPDSV incorporates a remotely operated vehicle, which the company describes as "a special deep saturation diving system capable of sustaining prolonged diving intervention at depth of down to 200m of sea water."
According to Chang, for the time being, the AUSS experts will continue to work on mapping the seabed and pinpointing pieces of the airliner so that underwater operations can be carried out as soon as the team arrives next week.
At the conference, CAL also said that Boeing had withdrawn a comment by one of its engineers who said: "Airliners that are over 20 years old should not be in operation."
The comment had been widely reported in the local media.
Boeing had pointed out, Chang said, that the engineer was not the person in charge of the investigation and was not authorized to speak for the company.
The company had also said, according to Chang, that 355 Boeing 747-200 aircraft remain in operation worldwide and that the average age of the planes is 23 years.
Chang said that CAL would hold a conference with families of the victims, within a week of the memorial service scheduled for the middle of the month, to discuss compensation issues.
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