FORT WORTH -
Wallets stuffed with cash, wornout tennis shoes and a used toothbrush. No matter how insignificant some of it might look, everything inside this Fort Worth warehouse is treated like gold. "Sometimes it might be a wedding ring, sometimes a newspaper" says Mark Rocco, Vice President of Global-BMS Cat.
Rocco's company specializes in the recovery of personal effects lost in aviation disasters. U-S Airways hired his team to recovery items left on flight 1549.
The 155 passengers left their belongings behind after their plane was forced to ditch into the Hudson. The jet sank beneath 50 feet of dirty water and sat at the bottom of the river for several days. Just hours after it was lifted from the water, Rocco and his team went to work.
"A tee shirt from grandma there favorite jeans or running shoes," Rocco says everything is important. Soggy and filled with dirt, luggage, clothes, books and even electronics where taken from the jet and placed in refrigerated trucks.
When the frozen items arrived in Forth Worth they were freeze dried, a process that eliminates any trace of water from paper and books. But most of the work is done with human hands and employee Dave Prosperi is busy cataloging thousands of items. "We treat everything like it was gold and like it's ours. We get a lot of satisfaction," said Prosperi.
The restoration process is detailed and can be painstaking but the reward is worth it says Rocco. "I just remember one comment was wow, fantastic, I just never expected something like this," told him a passenger.
Rocco's company specializes in the recovery of personal effects lost in aviation disasters. U-S Airways hired his team to recovery items left on flight 1549.
The 155 passengers left their belongings behind after their plane was forced to ditch into the Hudson. The jet sank beneath 50 feet of dirty water and sat at the bottom of the river for several days. Just hours after it was lifted from the water, Rocco and his team went to work.
"A tee shirt from grandma there favorite jeans or running shoes," Rocco says everything is important. Soggy and filled with dirt, luggage, clothes, books and even electronics where taken from the jet and placed in refrigerated trucks.
When the frozen items arrived in Forth Worth they were freeze dried, a process that eliminates any trace of water from paper and books. But most of the work is done with human hands and employee Dave Prosperi is busy cataloging thousands of items. "We treat everything like it was gold and like it's ours. We get a lot of satisfaction," said Prosperi.
The restoration process is detailed and can be painstaking but the reward is worth it says Rocco. "I just remember one comment was wow, fantastic, I just never expected something like this," told him a passenger.
