First debris of plane crash offloaded in Namibia
     WALVIS BAY, Namibia (September 18, 1997 06:57 a.m. EDT) - Burnt
 pieces of aircraft, deflated life-jackets and personal effects from
 one of two military planes believed to have collided off the Namibian
 coast last week were unloaded at Walvis Bay harbor on Thursday.
     Yoko-Tani fishing vessel, which traveled for 33 hours from the
 scene where the wreckage was found, unloaded the first debris of the
 plane crash at 6.40 a.m.
     It is not known if the wreckage belongs to the German Tupolev
 TU-154 or U.S. Air Force C-141, which crashed over the south Atlantic
 on Saturday, with 33 lives feared lost.
     The body of a woman, believed to be from the German plane, was
 found on Tuesday.
     Rescuers say there is little chance that anyone could have sur-
 vived the icy Atlantic waters as the search enters its fifth day.
     An international sea and air search mission, from Namibia, South
 Africa, France, the United States and Germany, has been combing the
 area since Sunday off Namibia's Skeleton Coast.
     The pieces of aircraft and debris on the Yoko-Tani were inspected
 by German investigators before they were loaded by hand onto a
 waiting truck.
     The wreckage was taken to a warehouse on the dock, hardly visible
 through the early morning thick fog around the harbor.
     Witnesses said deflated life-jackets, compact-discs, video tapes
 and a rubber shoe were among the debris offloaded.
     Pieces of aircraft measuring about 13 feet by 6 feet were off-
 loaded, including what appeared to be chunks of a wing and bulkhead.
 A blue aircraft seat was among the debris.
     German Air Transport Command chief General Gerhard Back told
 reporters on Wednesday the investigation would take between six
 months and a year before the causes of the crash were known.
     A South Africa Air Force statement said the search for any sur-
 vivors and more wreckage would continue on Thursday.
     It said a French frigate, the Floreal, would help to coordinate
 the sea and air operation.
     "For today, we have seven aircraft in the area for the continued
 search.  In addition two Oryx helicopters will fly to the Floreal
 with the German investigating team to identify the pieces of debris
 that were recovered by the frigate," the statement said.
     The South African Air Force said a chunk of a plane had been
 taken on board the frigate on Wednesday. A team of investigators
 from the U.S. is due in Namibia later in the day.
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