Q&A: Expert explains what’s involved in El Faro search

This undated photo provided by TOTE Maritime shows the cargo ship, El Faro. On Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said a search team using sophisticated scanning sonar has found the wreckage of a vessel believed to be the ship which went missing with 33 crewmembers on Oct. 1 during Hurricane Joaquin. (TOTE Maritime via AP)

By Associated Press November 3, 2015 3 min read

BOSTON (AP) – It’s 15,000 feet beneath the waves – deeper than the final resting place of the Titanic.

What’s involved in efforts to recover the data recorder of the cargo ship El Faro? What about the bodies of the 33 crew who were aboard when the ship sank off the Bahamas a month ago during Hurricane Joaquin?

David Gallo of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, who helped locate the wreckage of an Air France jetliner off Brazil in 2011 and joined one of the final expeditions to the Titanic’s ocean grave, spoke to The Associated Press on Monday about the challenges and decisions facing recovery workers.

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AP: What’s the next step for recovery crews?