The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released the first underwater images of the wreckage of the Boeing 737-200 cargo plane, which landed a week ago on emergency in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Honolulu, Hawaii.
Using a side scan sonar and remotely operated vehicles, the researchers managed to locate the wreckage of the aircraft located on the seabed at a depth between 110 to 128 meters, collect local media.
Photos captured by the team show the main components of the plane, including the wrecked wings and tail, engines and fuselage.
The event took place in the early morning of July 2 shortly after takeoff. The pilots reported having engine problems and after attempting to return to the Honolulu airport they were forced to land, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The two pilots of Transair Flight 810, bound for Kahului, they were rescued about an hour after the accident. Despite being seriously injured, they were hospitalized and their condition is currently stable.
The NTSB continues the investigations and one of its priorities to clarify what caused the mishap is to recover crucial parts of the aircraft such as black boxes with flight data and cockpit voice recordings. However, at the moment this has not been possible because divers cannot be sent to great depth.