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Investigation into Seaplane Crash Begins

Posted on: Wednesday, 21 December 2005, 00:00 CST

MIAMI _ Hoping to find the cockpit voice recorder and other clues to Monday's deadly crash, investigators plan to hoist the mangled wreck of Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 Wednesday from its resting place at the mouth of Government Cut.

The right wing of the downed plane was plucked from the ocean Tuesday afternoon _ with one of the two propeller-driven engines still attached. But a salvage team will try to raise the bulk of the 48-foot fuselage shortly after sunrise Wednesday.

"We've done as much as we can in the water," said Mark Rosenker, acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, which is heading the investigation.

By nightfall, family members had positively identified 17 of the bodies _ including all three infants _ through photographs, clothing and jewelry.

Two more were still being examined, and the final body had not been found.

"We obviously have to be very, very certain on this," said Larry Cameron, operations director of the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office. "We can't have any guesses."

The NTSB investigation could take nine months or longer, but a clearer picture began to emerge Tuesday about the hours leading up to the doomed flight.

The pilot was Michele Marks, 37, who had been promoted from first officer earlier this year. Little information about her flight record was available Tuesday, but a former Chalk's employee who knew Marks said she was well-liked and had a good reputation.

"I would've expected her to be there quite a while as a pilot for Chalk's," said Orin Lucas, who left the company eight months ago and now flies mid-size corporate jets.

Marks, her first officer _ whose name was not released _ and all but two of 18 passengers began the trip at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

Fog, however, delayed their scheduled 8:40 a.m. departure for hours.

The Grumman G-73T Mallard seaplane finally departed in the early afternoon _ but not for the Bahamas. Instead, it stopped at Watson Island, which Miami city officials and frequent Chalk's fliers say was unusual.

"You can ask anybody in the island and they will tell you it's usually a direct flight from Fort Lauderdale straight to Bimini," said Garred Gadaon, 34, whose sister-in-law and her 13-year-old daughter were on the flight.

City leaders have fought with Chalk's for years over whether the airline was living up to its contractual promise to provide regular flights from Watson Island. The agency that oversees Chalk's 30-year lease voted last week to find the airline in default.

Only two passengers boarded on the Watson Island layover, according to Chalk's.

One was Sergio Danguillecourt, a member of the Bacardi company's board of directors and great-great-grandson of founder Don Facundo Bacardi. He was joined by his wife, Jacqueline Kriz Danguillecourt.

The seaplane left Watson Island about 2:30 p.m., racing up Government Cut and taking off as it passed Fisher Island.

Moments later, it began spewing black smoke. The right wing broke away from the fuselage and burst into flames. Both pieces tumbled from the sky into the ocean, crashing so close to land that a fisherman on the jetty rocks could feel the heat.

"What we've seen is a fairly mangled aircraft, unfortunately," Rosenker said.

More than a dozen NTSB investigators arrived Monday night, and by Tuesday afternoon they had taken the maintenance and flight records for all five planes from Chalk's fleet.

They were also planning to review the records of Marks and her first officer, including determining what they had been doing during the 72 hours before the flight. Rosenker would not discuss the contents of those files.

The job of lifting the remains of the 58-year-old plane will fall to Atlanta AirRecovery & Storage, a Georgia contractor hired by Chalk's. It is a delicate process because the plane's fuselage is cracked and the wreck could be fragile.

"It's not the kind of thing where you can just pick it up," Rosenker said.

With the crash site surveyed and secured Tuesday evening, the Port of Miami briefly reopened. Three cruise ships, delayed in port more than 24 hours, were allowed to sail with nearly 10,000 passengers.

The channel will close again when Wednesday's salvage begins at 6 a.m. But if that work is not finished by lunchtime, shifting tides and winds could delay the recovery until Thursday.

Until then, the NTSB cannot rule out any scenario: structural failure, engine trouble, weather problems, air traffic and others.

"We're working really in the dark," Rosenker said.

He continued to urge anyone with photos or video of the crash to contact NTSB. The agency already has received numerous images, including a 26-second clip that showed the entire disaster and was widely broadcast on television.

"It's rare you get a chance to see an accident while it's going on," Rosenker said of the video.

The Federal Aviation Administration routinely inspects Chalk's maintenance records and its planes, just as it does with all commercial airlines, said FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen. The airline has been cited a few times in recent years.

The most recent was a warning notice on Aug. 9 for not testing employees for prohibited drugs and not setting up an alcohol misuse prevention program, as required by the FAA. The issues were corrected by Oct. 3.

On June 7, 2002, Chalk's was given a warning for violating a regulation related to releasing a plane that was not airworthy or equipped as required. The item was corrected by Feb. 20, 2003.

Chalk's is responsible for most of its own maintenance, though the company has hired contractors to maintain its engines and propellers. If one of the company's five planes has trouble in the Bahamas, they fly their mechanics to the islands.

"These planes are very, very strong planes," said Bob Francis, a former NTSB vice chairman, who is now a consultant in Washington, D.C. "Those kind of Grumman airplanes are built like tanks."

Monday's crash did not prompt the FAA to ground the Chalk's fleet _ a move normally reserved for airlines that violate federal regulations _ and at least one of its planes flew Tuesday. It brought some mourners home to Bimini, where they could be with family, and ferried some relatives back to Florida to identify victims.

Many relatives gathered at a Miami Beach hotel. Bishop Duane Swilley of A Place Called Hope Church was recruited by police to console the mourners; none of the victims attended his church, but his congregation has many Bahamians.

"They are still very much in shock," Swilley said.

"God gives you an anesthetic. So right now, until they see the plane or a body, they won't believe what has happened."

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(Knight Ridder Newspapers correspondents Matthew I. Pinzur, Scott Hiaasen, Jennifer Lebovich, Carol Rosenberg, Michael Vasquez, Casey Woods and Luisa Yanez contributed to this report.)

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(c) 2005, The Miami Herald.

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Source: The Miami Herald

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