An electronic charting system shows the search area off the coast of Long Island. Navy divers had been sitting in the Coast Guard command center, kept away from the crash site until a boat trip there yesterday afternoon. Even then, they didn't get in the water, and probably won't for several more days, federal officials said. The Navy began the second stage yesterday, abandoning the pinging device in favor of the underwater sonar.
Some private salvagers are skeptical of the process.
Stephen Bielenda, who owns the Wahoo, a diving boat operating out of Captree State Park that has done salvage operations. Bielenda disagreed with the assessment of ocean conditions by federal officials, some of whom said bad weather had barred getting divers in the water. Even with the weather improved, officials now say it makes no sense to send divers down until the machines have pinpointed key pieces of wreckage. Robert Francis, vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, told reporters Saturday night. Yesterday afternoon, as the search for the black boxes continued unsucessfully, officials gave up on the pinger.