TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale, a Broward County based company, successfully completed another airplane salvage. This time a Cessna Caravan aircraft crashed into the water west of Chub Cay on the Bahama Bank.

TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale was hired to recover the plane wreckage and transport it back to the United States. TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale’s 96’ Salvage Tug, Richard L. Becker, equipped with a 7.5 ton crane, responded to the crash site along with a salvage team including the top Salvage Divers of the company.

The Richard L. Becker transited to the crash site, where Salvage Divers found the numerous pieces of wreckage. The Richard L. Becker recovered the smaller pieces of the wreckage beginning with the engine, propeller and then the right wing. The Richard L. Becker was then repositioned into a 3 point moor for recovery of the fuselage and the left wing; which remained intact. Once the fuselage was on the deck of the Richard L. Becker, the wing was removed by crews and secured for the crossing back to the United States. "Although aircraft salvage is challenging, the team executed the salvage plan with complete success." stated Capt Kevin Collins, Director of Operations. He went on to say that "because the aluminum is usually badly torn it is sharp and poses a serious hazard to the divers. We were careful and no one was even scratched".

The wreckage was brought back to the United States and offloaded to be transported to a hanger where officials could complete their investigation.

TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale has performed thousands of salvage operations since its inception in 1989. The company operates from three ports and provides towing and assistance to boaters throughout Southeast Florida and the Bahamas. The company continues to expand its services to include charter and launch services and mega-yacht towing and assistance.

For more information, contact TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale at (954) 783-7821.

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