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Saturday, December 25, 2004
Divers fail to locate helicopter's black box
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Divers yesterday failed to turn up the black box of a Coast Guard helicopter that crashed into the Bering Sea during a rescue attempt of a grounded freighter's crew.
A commercial diving team spent hours searching for the helicopter's data recorder after its transmitter was heard in the water near the stern section of the remains of the 738-foot Selendang Ayu.
"They could hear it pinging, but they just couldn't find it," said Coast Guard Petty Officer Sarah Francis.
The divers planned another recovery attempt at the next break in the weather, which may not be until Tuesday.
The helicopter crashed with 10 people on board shortly before the soybean freighter ran hard aground and split in two on Dec. 8 off Unalaska Island, 800 air miles southwest of Anchorage.
Four were rescued by another helicopter, but six crew members were lost at sea and are presumed dead.
The wreckage of the helicopter was later spotted washed ashore, covered with oil.
Officials hope to recover the recorder to discover why the aircraft crashed.
Meanwhile, oil spilled from the wreckage of the freighter is leaking too slowly and spreading too thinly to skim or break up with chemicals, spill responders said yesterday.
The freighter was carrying soybeans, 424,000 gallons of intermediate fuel oil and 18,000 gallons of diesel to China when it lost power and rammed into a shoal after drifting for nearly two days.
The bow section has sunk almost out of view after several days of harsh weather and the 176,000 gallons of oil in that section is presumed lost.
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