Progress Slows in TWA Probe

EAST MORICHES: After a day of investigation that NTSB vice chairman Robert Francis called the most unproductive since Flight 800 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, salvage work is continuing on the remains of TWA's flight 800. Ten bodies were recovered on Thursday, leaving only 46 of 230 victims unaccounted for. Also pulled from the ocean was a 40-foot long piece of the plane's fuselage, the largest chunk recovered so far. No explosive residue has been found yet on any of the recovered pieces. The FBI and NTSB still say they have not gathered enough forensic evidence to explain why the plane exploded in mid-air. The remains of the 350,000 ton aircraft are scattered over the ocean floor in heaps 10 to 12 feet high. Divers have described the hazards of exploring the wreckage in the dark as equivalent to diving into an underwater junkyard. TIME's Elaine Rivera reports from East Moriches: "Divers are having serious problems getting to parts of the plane. Every day that goes by brings us less and less information, and threatens to destroy evidence through prolonged exposure to seawater, but the investigators are holding on. They are still determined to find the answers, but compared to a week ago, they are more somber and tired. The team is resigned to a long, slow process and they know that there are no easy answers." The FBI's lead investigator James Kallstrom told Rivera that it may take a month to recover most of the plane. He hopes to identify the cause of the bombing sooner. Chris McKenna