Piper Malibu Recovered Near Cat Cay Bahamas

TowBoatU.S. Ft Lauderdale's 96' OSV Richard L. Becker got underway on August 27th bound for Cat Cay Bahamas with a crew of seven on board. A Piper Malibu had recently crashed as they were taking off from the airstrip in Cat Cay. The plane rested on the flats, nose down with damage to both wings in less than 2 feet of water. Fortunately, there were no casualties related to the wreck and each of the 4 passengers walked away!

Early on the morning of the 28th, a crew got underway to the crash site in a shallow draft skiff to survey the scene and formulate a plan. The shallow water where the vessel came to rest combined with the lack of deep water anywhere near the crash site resulted in a very challenging recovery. Based on these observations, it was quickly realized that this job would require a creative plan. After about an hour of weighing several options, the salvage team settled on a plan. The Richard L. Becker was moved from the fuel dock and secured on the T head of the southernmost dock within the marina. Over 1,000 feet of 2" Poly line was extended through the marina basin, across land at the South end of the marina and out onto the flats to the crash site. After removing one wing and securing the hawser to the front landing gear using chafe protection, the Hawser was connected to the headache ball of the Richard L. Becker’s 7.5 ton knuckle boom crane. The cranes winch was used to slowly pull the wreckage across the flats until it reached deep enough water to rig lift bags and tow to the Marina. The remaining wing was detached and each of the parts were hoisted on board and secured to the deck of the Richard L. Becker to be transported back to the U.S.

The graphic below displays a bird's eye view of the salvage scene for a clearer picture of the method used for recovery. TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale's Director of Sales commented “Our crew takes great pride in solving complex marine problems for our customers. This job is one of the latest examples!”