(AP) – A riverkeeper who routinely patrols for the environmental group Potomac Riverkeeper Network got permission Thursday to take his motorboat to the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) down from the crash site.
Dean Naujoks said he found that floating debris from the passenger plane had been pushed by the wind and current into a pair of shallow coves along the Maryland shore.
Naujoks recovered a piece of the interior wall from the passenger cabin that had surrounded a window, pages from a flight manual, a woman’s sweater and what appeared to be the cushion from a pilot’s seat. He turned over the items to the FBI.
“Everything is covered in jet fuel,” Naujoks said. “I’m thinking of the people these things belonged to and it’s a punch to the gut. It’s just a sad day on the river.”
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