Helicopter recovered from record depth

US Navy recovery team lifts an MH-60 S Seahawk from 5,869 metres

from Sidney Dean

On 18 March, US Navy recovery forces succeeded in lifting a downed MH-60S Seahawk helicopter from a depth of 5,869 metres. This is a new depth record for the recovery of an aircraft. The helicopter, which belonged to the US 7th Fleet, crashed in the waters off Okinawa in January 2020, but the crew of three managed to save themselves before the aircraft sank.

The helicopter was lifted by the Navy Sea Systems Command salvage group. Specialists from this service, known as SUPSALV (Supervisor of Salvage and Diving), had already located the helicopter in spring 2020 using side-scan sonar and surveyed the surrounding seabed.

A US-based SUPSALV team returned to the Western Pacific in early March this year, this time with a remote-controlled underwater robot of the type CURV 21. This square, 3,000-kilo underwater vehicle is designed for operations at a maximum depth of 6,150 metres. The team left Guam on 12 March on board a salvage vessel leased in Asia and reached the crash site on the 17th. The very next day, with the help of the robot, they succeeded in attaching lifting ropes to the helicopter and lifting the wreckage onto the salvage ship. The MH-60S was first taken to the US base in Yokosuka (Japan), from where it was transported on to the USA.

Photo: The recovered helicopter on the deck of the salvage ship on 18 March 2021 (US Navy)