Coast Guard recovers aircraft parts off Guam

Photo By Petty Officer 3rd Class Tori Barrett | A 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew from Station Apra Harbor responded to a call from the Port Authority of Guam Police to recover aircraft debris about 400-yards offshore in the ocean at the beginning of the seawall in Piti, Guam, May 19, 2019. The FAA’s Flight Standards Division, which has jurisdiction over the matter, has been notified. According to the FAA Pacific Division, the parts came off a National Airlines flight departing Andersen Air Force Base May 11 and landed safely in Honolulu. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Station Apra Harbor/Released) Note: All dates and times in Chamorro Time Zone UTC +10.  

GUAM

05.18.2019

Story by Chief Petty Officer Sara Muir                  

U.S. Coast Guard District 14 Hawaii Pacific

SANTA RITA, Guam -- The U.S. Coast Guard responded to another report of an aircraft part located in Piti, Guam, Sunday.

A 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew from Station Apra Harbor responded and recovered the part.

Coast Guard Sector Guam command center watchstanders received a call from the Port Authority of Guam Police at 9:15 a.m. on Sunday. Port police noticed debris about 400-yards offshore in the ocean at the beginning of the seawall in Piti. According to the crew that recovered the part, it did not have any identifiable numbers but was approximately 8 feet in length.

The Coast Guard has not received any reports of missing aircraft. Boaters in the area advised keeping a sharp lookout for debris that may pose a hazard to navigation.

Anyone sighting additional aircraft parts in the water or on the beach is asked to call the FAA at 671-366-6286 or the Coast Guard at 671-355-4800. It is not recommended to recover them on one’s own due to possible hazards and for the preservation of evidence that may lead to the discovery of the origin of the aircraft.

The Guam FAA has been notified and state the part recovered by the boat crew appears to be similar and could have come from the same source as an aircraft part found in Piti on Friday — a portion of wing known as a flap from a Boeing 747.

The FAA’s Flight Standards Division, which has jurisdiction over the matter, has been notified about both incidents. According to the FAA Pacific Division, the parts came off a National Airlines flight departing Andersen Air Force Base May 11. The flight landed safely in Honolulu.

Note: All dates and times in Chamorro Time Zone UTC +10.

• Date Taken: 05.18.2019
• Date Posted: 05.19.2019 00:19
• Story ID: 322956
• Location: GU