CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The process of removing the cargo plane that crashed Friday while landing at Charleston’s Yeager Airport is slated to begin as early as Monday, according to airport officials.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board were still working at the crash site on Sunday.
In the next phase of the crash’s aftermath, members of the NTSB’s Recovery Company will “begin to cut the plane in sections so that it can be removed” from a hillside area more than 600 feet below Yeager’s runway.
Those sections of the plane will be lifted out via helicopter or crane and then loaded onto flatbed tractor trailers for removal, an update from Yeager indicated Sunday.
That removal process, which is slated to begin either Monday or Tuesday, will not affect airport operations.
Yeager reopened Saturday afternoon.
In all, airport officials indicated the closure, due to the crash, affected about 1,136 outbound passengers and roughly 1,200 inbound passengers.
“We have kept additional staffing at the airport today in order to assist the NTSB with any needs they might have and to help passengers who may have faced delays caused by this tragedy,” said Terry Sayre, executive director of Yeager Airport, on Sunday.
After the plane is removed, Clean Harbor, Yeager’s environmental contractor, will remediate the site to clear fuel and hydraulic fluid.
No water contamination had thus far been detected in a nearby creek that flows into the Elk River in testing from West Virginia American Water Company.