TOKYO — The U.S. Navy says an aircraft carrying 11 crew and passengers has crashed into the Pacific Ocean while on the way to the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. Probably a C-2.
The Japan-based 7th Fleet says in a statement that the search and rescue operation has been launched from the carrier.
It says the ship was operating in the Philippine Sea when the crash occurred at 2:45 p.m. Japan time.
It says the names of the crew and passengers are being withheld pending next of kin notification.
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — The Navy has mapped the undersea wreckage of a cargo plane
that crashed into the Philippine Sea last November, killing three sailors.
Personnel aboard the research ship RV Petrel surveyed the wreck of the C-2A Greyhound Feb. 3-5
and determined that its cockpit and fuselage are resting in two sections on the ocean floor,
the Navy said in a statement Friday.
The aircraft’s flight recorder appears to be intact
and planning for a salvage mission continues, the statement said.
Deepwater-salvage experts found the aircraft Dec. 29
by tracking its emergency beacon 18,500 feet below the surface.
A recovery operation would be the deepest ever attempted.
The Navy has yet to announce the official cause of the crash.
It appears the Greyhound suffered a rare double engine failure,
two Navy officials previously told Stars and Stripes
n condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.
They said it was unclear what would have caused both engines to fail.
/iberia.gif)
/emirates.gif)
/reeve.gif)