Omrop Fryslan, Jantine Weidenaar. The recovery of the Lancaster ED 603 warplane has been halted for the time being. The weather on lake IJsel is too turbulent to continue
Three weeks ago, salvage work began. Then with glorious weather and high temperatures: ideal conditions for the work. The plane is salvaged from the grounds of lake IJssel, therefore the elements must always be taken into account.
At het moment, the wind in particular has a big influence on the salvage operation, says Hubert Schuncken, the Aircraft Salvage Staff Officer: “In fact, we could work in the pit. But around it, with the wave action at the working island, that’s not doable. That’s going to rock and slide, that’s too dangerous.”
No rush
The fact that work is now on hold does not mean that the salvage operation will immediately become a rush job after. It does not have to be finished within a specific timeframe. “We’ll just add on an extra week if necessary,” says Schuncken. “We are still dealing with human remains, and we have to do that carefully.”
The recovery was set up to find three crew members who have been missing since 1943. In the first week, it was already announced that human remains had been found.
The weather forecast for next week is a lot better, hoping that salvage operations can start again next Monday.
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