NTSB will launch mission to retrieve El Faro’s ‘black box’

The National Transportation Safety Board will attempt to retrieve the El Faro’s voyage data recorder in July, which is located in about 15,000 feet of water near the Bahamas.    The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Monday it will launch a mission to retrieve the El Faro’s voyage data recorder or “black box” in early July.
   The El Faro is the Tote Maritime cargo ship that sank during Hurricane Joaquin Oct. 1, 2015 with the loss of all 33 crew members on board.
   The U.S.-flag cargo ship operated between Jacksonville, Fla. and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
   On Nov. 1, 2015, the El Faro wreckage was positively identified during the NTSB’s initial mission to locate the wreckage, but it wasn’t until a second trip was made to the wreck that the voyage data recorder (VDR) was finally located April 26 in about 15,000 feet of water near the Bahamas.
   Investigators collaborated in May with scientists and deep water recovery experts to determine how the VDR could be recovered given its proximity to nearby obstacles. The NTSB contracted with the U.S. Navy Supervisor of Salvage to assist in the recovery effort.
   The ship USNS Apache, along with CURV-21, a remotely operated underwater vehicle that was used to locate the El Faro wreckage in November, will now be used in the effort to retrieve the recorder.
   Investigators from the NTSB and the U.S. Coast Guard, and engineers from the U.S. Navy and Phoenix International, the operator of CURV-21, will be aboard the USNS Apache.
   The trip to the accident site is expected to take three to four days, followed by five days on scene to recover the VDR. Once the VDR is recovered and the USNS Apache returns to shore, the VDR will be brought to the NTSB laboratory in Washington where investigators will examine the device and download and analyze any information it may contain.
   The NTSB said recorders such as those on the El Faro can capture 12 hours of data, including audio from microphones on the bridge, very high frequency radio communications, images captured from an onboard radar every 15 seconds, and automatic identification system traffic broadcasts data (if not possible to record radar). In addition, the device records vessel parametric data – including date, time, GPS position, speed and heading. The capsule is certified for a depth of 6,000 meters (19,685 feet).