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Scavengers take potential clues to Peru plane crash

PUCALLPA, Peru - Hundreds of scavengers combed through the wreckage of a Peruvian airliner Thursday, carrying away scrap metal, passengers' belongings and electronic equipment that could have offered clues into what caused the crash that left at least 37 dead.

Dozens of air force soldiers stood by as residents of the Amazon jungle town of Pucallpa dug through debris of the Boeing 737-200 that crashed Tuesday, looking for anything of value.

"I'm collecting this for my house to hang my laundry," said Rosario Dahua, 47, as she tugged at a tangle of heavy wires next to a turbine jet motor.

TANS Peru Flight 204 was carrying 98 people, including six crew members, on a domestic flight from the Peruvian capital of Lima to Pucallpa when it crash-landed a few miles from the Pucallpa airport, company spokesman Jorge Belevan said Wednesday. At least 58 people survived, and three are still missing. The airline has said wind shear likely forced an emergency landing.

Air force Cmdr. William Rodriguez, in charge of security at the site, said Thursday that he did not believe the people would impede the work of civil aviation investigators who had not yet arrived.

"We are verifying that all the bodies have really been recovered," Rodriguez said. "So if these people want to search for things, perhaps they'll encounter another body."

Juan Berte, 33, said he had no idea what the electronic equipment he carted away was and said he was not concerned about inadvertently removing key evidence.

"Look, we're taking stuff to keep, perhaps in the house, to look at like a toy," he said, holding a cracked insert panel labeled, "Electrostatic Sensitive" and "Special handling required."

Paul Czysz, professor emeritus of aerospace engineering at St. Louis University, said parts from wreckage can offer investigators important details about the accident.

Hernan Vargas, an aeronautical engineer, likened removal of parts from the crash site to contaminating a police murder scene. He said scavengers may be the reason why the data recorder, one of two "black boxes," is missing.

[Last modified August 26, 2005, 01:38:04]