VANCOUVER ISLAND, Canada (24 Jan 2004) -- If all goes well in May, a giant crane will gently pick up a 737 jetliner cradled on the deck of a barge floating about a mile off Vancouver Island -- and drop it overboard.
The aircraft will sink to the bottom, where scuba divers hope it will become a refuge for sea life and a Mecca for divers from around the world.
A bronze sculpture of an airman will go down with the plane.
"It's probably one of the most interesting projects in North America as far as diving is concerned," said Bill Coltart, project coordinator for the Comox Valley Dive Association on Vancouver Island.
"This has been great ... the worldwide interest that has come to light has been unbelievable. We've gotten e-mail from Europe asking about it," Coltart said.
Sunken World War II aircraft in the South Pacific attract large numbers of divers, Coltart said.
A Boeing 737 was once sunk near Miami, but hurricanes have since broken it up, he said.
Yesterday, the jetliner was loaded onto a barge from the B.C. mainland to be taken to Vancouver Island, where it will be stored until the Canadian environmental permit process is complete, hopefully by May, Coltart said.
May 29 is the target day for sinking the jet.
The 737, built by The Boeing Co. in 1966, has been cleaned and stripped of potentially harmful materials by volunteers, including a group from the Emerald Sea Dive Club of Edmonds, according to Tex Enemark, president of the non-profit Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia.
"It took three months of volunteers working weekends," Enemark said. "There's been an awful lot of support for British Columbia diving ... from an awful lot of American divers."
The jet is 100 feet long with a 96--foot wing span, and yesterday's move was a bit nerve-racking, he said.
The plane will be attached to an 8-foot stand to stabilize it on the ocean floor.
"We weren't so sure we were going to clear the wings over the sides of the barge, but we had a foot to spare," Enemark said. "We got it on a barge, and its on its way to Comox."
They believe that once sunken, the plane will be covered in sea life within a year and provide refuge for certain species which appear to be declining, such as rockfish, he said.
"If you're diving over a period of time in these places, you've noticed ... a lot of rockfish have simply disappeared," Enemark said. "One of the reasons for doing this is simply to provide more condominiums for rockfish."
The Artificial Reef Society has sunk six battleships off Vancouver Island in the past 12 years to act as artificial reefs, but this is the group's first plane.
The jet should be a friendly training ground for divers interested in learning wreck-diving skills, Enemark said.
The plane, now consisting of little more than an airframe, was donated by Qwest Airparts Inc. of Memphis.
The company reclaims parts from grounded airplanes, said Joe Venuto, the company's vice president of business development.
They were happy to give the airplane away, Venuto said.
Typically, the company would sell it for scrap metal -- which would bring about $5,000 -- after stripping it, he said.
It wasn't your typical charity request, he added.
"We had a request from U.S. Marshals Service for a donation, and had a request once from a fire department in Arizona, but nothing like this," Venuto said. "We thought it was a worthy cause."
The aircraft will sink to the bottom, where scuba divers hope it will become a refuge for sea life and a Mecca for divers from around the world.
A bronze sculpture of an airman will go down with the plane.
"It's probably one of the most interesting projects in North America as far as diving is concerned," said Bill Coltart, project coordinator for the Comox Valley Dive Association on Vancouver Island.
"This has been great ... the worldwide interest that has come to light has been unbelievable. We've gotten e-mail from Europe asking about it," Coltart said.
Sunken World War II aircraft in the South Pacific attract large numbers of divers, Coltart said.
A Boeing 737 was once sunk near Miami, but hurricanes have since broken it up, he said.
Yesterday, the jetliner was loaded onto a barge from the B.C. mainland to be taken to Vancouver Island, where it will be stored until the Canadian environmental permit process is complete, hopefully by May, Coltart said.
May 29 is the target day for sinking the jet.
The 737, built by The Boeing Co. in 1966, has been cleaned and stripped of potentially harmful materials by volunteers, including a group from the Emerald Sea Dive Club of Edmonds, according to Tex Enemark, president of the non-profit Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia.
"It took three months of volunteers working weekends," Enemark said. "There's been an awful lot of support for British Columbia diving ... from an awful lot of American divers."
The jet is 100 feet long with a 96--foot wing span, and yesterday's move was a bit nerve-racking, he said.
The plane will be attached to an 8-foot stand to stabilize it on the ocean floor.
"We weren't so sure we were going to clear the wings over the sides of the barge, but we had a foot to spare," Enemark said. "We got it on a barge, and its on its way to Comox."
They believe that once sunken, the plane will be covered in sea life within a year and provide refuge for certain species which appear to be declining, such as rockfish, he said.
"If you're diving over a period of time in these places, you've noticed ... a lot of rockfish have simply disappeared," Enemark said. "One of the reasons for doing this is simply to provide more condominiums for rockfish."
The Artificial Reef Society has sunk six battleships off Vancouver Island in the past 12 years to act as artificial reefs, but this is the group's first plane.
The jet should be a friendly training ground for divers interested in learning wreck-diving skills, Enemark said.
The plane, now consisting of little more than an airframe, was donated by Qwest Airparts Inc. of Memphis.
The company reclaims parts from grounded airplanes, said Joe Venuto, the company's vice president of business development.
They were happy to give the airplane away, Venuto said.
Typically, the company would sell it for scrap metal -- which would bring about $5,000 -- after stripping it, he said.
It wasn't your typical charity request, he added.
"We had a request from U.S. Marshals Service for a donation, and had a request once from a fire department in Arizona, but nothing like this," Venuto said. "We thought it was a worthy cause."
