A train derailment accident last Thursday in Western Montana caused three Boeing 737 fuselages to fall into the Clark Fork River, causing railroad officials to ponder on how to get the massive structures out of the water.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. unit BNSF Railway Co. was transporting six fuselages, along with some other assembly parts, to the Renton, Washington plant of Boeing Co. from Wichita, Kansas-based supplier Spirit Aerosystems Holdings Inc. The three other fuselages were also thrown off the train during the accident, but did not join the others in tumbling down to the river and stayed on dry land.
Regional railroad company Montana Rail Link took over control of the train when it entered Montana, and the accident happened with the train under Montana Rail Link's jurisdiction.
The cause of the derailment accident, which saw 19 cars get off the railroad tracks, is still being investigated. There are no reports of injuries related to the accident.
Boeing has sent technicians to examine the fuselages and assembly parts that were involved in the accident, according to company spokesman Doug Alder. In an e-mail, Alder said that there is no definite information on how much delay the accident will case on the production at the Boeing plant.
According to Montana Rail Link spokeswoman Lynda Frost, it could take up to two days to get the three aircraft fuselages out of the river.
"We've never done this before," said Frost in an interview. "We have a lot of heavy-duty equipment on hand to do this. The plan is to drag them up the bank."
However, reports say that the process of recovering the fuselages has been extremely slow. While the earlier target was to have all three fuselages out of the water by Sunday, railroad officials are now saying that the operation might take until Tuesday to remove.
"The progress is going extremely slow," said Frost. "If we get one up today, it would appear it will take one day each to get them out."
A crew of 50 people, operating eight heavy-equipment machines, is working on getting the aircraft bodies out. In the meantime, rafters on the river can take a look at the massive size of the fuselages, which are located near a feature on the river known as Mermaid Rock.
There have been no estimates made on the cost of the damage cause by the derailment accident. Insurance considerations will not be determined until the investigation is finished.
