The Littoral Combat Ship USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) has joined the search and recovery effort for the AirAsia flight that went down in the Java Sea Dec. 28.
The Navy’s 7th Fleet said the Fort Worth arrived on the scene and began search operations on Saturday, following a request by the Indonesian government for additional assistance locating the Airbus A320 wreckage and remains of those who were on Flight 8501.
The Fort Worth carries side scan sonar to search underwater and is deployed with an MH-60R helicopter and two 11-meter rigid hull inflatable boats.
The Fort Worth’s role marks one of the first visible missions for the new LCS class designed to operate in shallow waters.
The LCS-3 “brings maneuverability, speed and a shallow draft, which allows her to conduct expeditious visual and radar searches in a congested, shallow water environment,” 7th Fleet said.
The Fort Worth, which had just arrived in Singapore on a 16-month deployment, left port Friday morning local time in case the Indonesians requested its help. The USS Samson (DDG-102), an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, has been involved in the mission since Dec. 29 and so far has recovered 12 bodies.
The first of the LCSs, the USS Freedom (LCS-1), went on a nine-month deployment to Singapore in 2013. The Navy plans to permanently station LCSs in Singapore.
The AirAsia flight carrying 162 people crashed in the Java Sea while flying from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore. About three dozen bodies have been recovered so far.