North Miami Beach ﾷWith the downed plane’s massive tail still bobbing in Maule Lake like a giant shark fin, environmental and salvage crews hustled Sunday to soak up a fuel slick and devise a plan for pulling the 17-ton aircraft out of 14 feet of water.
The Bahamas-bound Convair 340-70 splashed into the Intracoastal lake just south of the Aventura Mall on Saturday morning when one of its engines failed shortly after takeoff from Opa-locka Airport. The pilots, who were uninjured, realized they were in trouble and guided the plane over powerlines and between boats, landing safely belly-first in the lake.
The National Safety and Transportation Board is investigating.
On Sunday divers from a salvage company, Air & Sea Crash Recovery Inc., examined the wreckage up close, shutting off valves to stop oil leaks, according to Scott Wienstein, a vice president of the Davie-based company.
Crews used white absorbent booms Sunday to soak up a 500-foot circular fuel slick. The aircraft has stopped leaking, Wienstein said.
“There’s been no impact to the environment,” he added while taking a break on the shore of Maule Lake, which is home to mangroves, a variety of fish and manatees.
When the plane hit the water its wing broke, spilling many gallons of fuel. Most of it evaporated, Wienstein said, and the remainder was soaked up with the absorbent booms.
Air & Sea was hired by the plane’s insurance company, who Wienstein declined to name. Today the company plans to remove the plane’s 10,500 lbs of cargo, including electronics, toys and furniture.
On Tuesday Air & Sea plans to pump 14 bags with 6,000 lbs of air inside the plane, floating the wreckage to the surface so boats can haul it to shore. The aircraft will be lifted from the water by a crane, cut into pieces and trucked back to Opa-locka Airport, Wienstein said.
The plane, operated by Miami Air Lease, an air cargo company, was bound for Nassau, Bahamas. Pilots Alejandro Bristol, 28, of Boca Raton and Dennys Villavicencio, 51, of Princeton in southern Miami-Dade County, made the run several times a week.
The flight took off at 8:40 a.m. About four miles offshore Bristol saw his left engine smoking. The pair doubled back and landed in the lake. Rescuers plucked them from the plane before their feet got wet.
Andrew Ryan, The Sun-Sentinel
