NCJ Number
171191
Journal
Police: The Law Enforcement Magazine Volume: 21 Issue: 7 Dated: (July 1997) Pages: 18-24
Date Published
1997
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article describes the work of the New York City Police Department's (NYPD's) scuba team as well as the structure of the diving and recovery operations associated with the explosion of TWA flight 800 10 miles off the south shore of Long Island.
Abstract
Although the disaster occurred some 70 miles outside of the its immediate jurisdiction, the NYPD was mobilized into action. Hundreds of officers would become involved, including the entire harbor unit, the scuba team, the bomb squad, the emergency service unit, the helicopter of the aviation unit, highway patrol units, and numerous precinct and headquarters personnel. The scuba team used every available piece of diving equipment. Divided into squads, some of the divers were assigned to begin a side- scan sonar search of the ocean floor to locate the 747's wreckage. The remaining divers boarded inflatable Zodiacs to retrieve every piece of debris possible. NYPD operated the command vessel for the search operation for the first week of the operation until the Navy took charge over the search and recovery of flight 800. NYPD divers continued to operate as part of the search and rescue crew. Details of the search operation are described in this article, along with the divers' reactions to what they found.