LAPUSH — The salvage operation for a downed Coast Guard helicopter continued Saturday near the mouth of the Quillayute River while officials coordinated plans for a memorial ceremony for three of four crewmen who lost their lives in the Wednesday crash.
The Coast Guard planned a wreath-laying ceremony for today at the Quileute village of LaPush.
But few details had been finalized as of Saturday afternoon, said Petty Officer Nathan Bradshaw, a Coast Guard spokesman in Seattle. He said the Coast Guard was hoping for a 2 p.m. commemoration to avoid any potential fog.
Another memorial service will be held Tuesday in Sitka, Alaska, where the crew was stationed.
The crewmen were flying the medium-range-recovery MH-60T Jayhawk to Sitka from Astoria, Ore., when it clipped power lines and crashed into the water about 400 yards off the coast of LaPush between James Island and the mainland.
The low-voltage power cables hung 400 feet above the water and extended from a tower near the mouth of the Quillayute River to the top of James Island, providing electricity to a foghorn and boater fog-warning lights on the island.
Bradshaw said Saturday he did not know when the lines will be reconnected or if the James Island fog lights and horn have any backup power, but said the Coast Guard is working to repair lines.
Recovery of the helicopter, which broke into four pieces, was delayed twice by fog on Thursday and Friday.
The last two main pieces — the tail and tail rotor — were recovered Friday evening by a contracted salvage helicopter.
The wreckage is being held at the Coast Guard’s Quillayute River station for the investigation into the crash.
But divers continued to recover debris from the helicopter on Saturday, Bradshaw said.
The investigation into the crash has begun, but no further details have been released on why the helicopter flew into the path of the power lines.
Lt. Lance D. Leone, the lone survivor of the crash, remained in stable condition Saturday at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center.
Bradshaw said he didn’t know if Leone, one of the pilots, had given the Coast Guard a statement on what happened.
“That is something that will come out [after] the investigation,” he said.
A “black box-type device” has been recovered from the helicopter, Bradshaw said, which should contain an audio recording of the final minutes of the flight.
Bradshaw expects a transcript of the recording will be released publicly once the investigation is completed, he said.
Bradshaw said the review could take at least six months.
He added that an investigation has yet to be completed into the collision of a Coast Guard C-130 Hercules transport aircraft with a Marine Corps helicopter in October 2009 near the California coast. Nine people died.
At LaPush, the Coast Guard owns the cables that were hit by the helicopter.
Coast Guard personnel at the Quillayute River station and Group/Air Station Port Angeles said they could not say whether the fog horn and warning lights have been working at all. They said they are not authorized to speak to the news media.
Quileute Marina Harbormaster Darryl Penn said Saturday morning that he also was not aware if the lights and horn were working in the foggy weather.
Penn added that fishermen have been traveling through the river mouth since the crash, and he hasn’t heard of any problems.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
