The US Navy announced it would be sending a team of deep water salvage experts to start a renewed search for the crashed C-2A Greyhound aircraft.
The C-2A with 11 crew and passengers crashed in the Philippine Sea on the way to USS Ronald Reagan on November 22.
While the aircraft’s last position on the surface of the water is known, the depth of water in that area exceeds 16,000 feet (4,870 m), beyond the capabilities of salvage assets in theater.
In the coming days, a team of deep water salvage experts led by United States Navy’s Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV) will deploy from Washington D.C.. The salvage team will embark a US Navy-contracted salvage vessel in Japan and proceed to the crash site at sea. Once on station, the operators will search for the aircraft’s emergency relocation pinger with a US Navy-owned towed pinger locator (TPL-25) system.
If the search is successful, additional deep water salvage assets will deploy to survey and recover the aircraft.
The navy said every effort would be made to recover the fallen sailors.
Assigned to Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VRC 30) forward deployed to Japan, the C-2A aircraft was carrying 11 crew and passengers when it crashed. Eight personnel were recovered immediately by US Navy Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC 12). For the next three days, Ronald Reagan led combined search and rescue for three sailors with the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF), covering nearly 1,000 square nautical miles before ending the search.