UPDATE - Second Aircraft recovered from the lake bottom
Coeur d’Alene, ID: The salvage company hired by the insurance company was able to recover the second aircraft today from the lake bottom. On Thursday the salvage company recovered the Cessna from the lake bottom and the remaining victim from the 8 fatality plane crash. This victim was still in the aircraft. Technical Rescue Divers decided it was too dangerous to try and enter the plane to remove the occupant, so the salvage company recovered the plane.
This afternoon the salvage company was able to recover most of the sea plane, but there are some parts that NTSB would like to see recovered. These include the wings of the Cessna and the pontoons of the sea plane.
The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office Sonar Team was also on the water today, marking the possible locations of the pontoons and wings. These will be verified tomorrow with the ROV. Once they are verified, the recovery team will retrieve those items. It is unknown what the timeline will be tomorrow or how long this part of the recovery will take. Once all the parts of the plane are recovered they will be handed off to NTSB for their investigation. Again all questions about the investigation should be routed to NTSB at the following email address: terrywilliams@ntsb.com
The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office would like to remind everyone that Loffs Bay Boat Launch and Docks are still closed as a result of the recovery efforts. We would also like to thank all the boaters for staying clear of the crash site and allowing the recovery team to work.
UPDATE - Airplane Salve Company recovers the Cessna and last missing victim
Coeur d’Alene, ID: The final victim of the plane crash from Sunday has been recovered as well as the fuselage of the Cessna. The Kootenai County Sonar Team located the last victim on Wednesday night, however he was in one of the wrecked aircraft and could not be removed by divers. Today the airplane recovery team was able to raise the Cessna from the lake bottom, which had the last victim in it. The victim was handed over to the Kootenai County Coroner’s Office. Again, the names of the remaining victims are not being released until the approved by the Coroner’s Office.
Recovery efforts will continue tomorrow to start bringing up the rest of the wrecked aircrafts. At this time it is unknown how long this process will take. The Loffs Bay Boat Launch and Docks are closed to the public until recovery efforts are finished. Additionally, a section of the lake at the crash site is also closed but boats are able to go around the site along the shoreline.
The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the members of the Sonar and Dive Teams as well as Jake’s Diving for their dedication and tireless work while locating and retrieving all the victims so the family could have some closure. Our thoughts and prayers are with all the family and friends of the victims.
More information will be released when it becomes available.