Fitiuta, AMERICAN SAMOA — The Port Administration of American Samoa (PAAS), in close partnership with Samoa Airways, has successfully completed the complex extraction and recovery of the Twin Otter aircraft (5W-FAY) from the operational safety zones at Fitiuta Airport, Manu'a Islands.

The high-precision recovery operation was led by Samoa Airways' technical team from Samoa, working alongside specialized aircraft engineers from Unity Aviation Canada Ltd, who mobilized from Canada to American Samoa on Wednesday night. 

Crucial heavy equipment assets, tactical manpower, flatbed logistics, and necessary civil engineering materials were provided by local contractor Silva Group. To ensure maximum safety during these complex maneuvers, official Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) runway closures were strategically put in place.

On Thursday morning, Aug 13, 2026, a Samoa Airways Engineer, the engineering crew from Canada, and PAAS Senior Manager of Engineering flew directly into Fitiuta to immediately commence critical on-site prep works. 

During these initial ground operations, the designated crane operator performed an exhaustive site walk to calculate the vehicle’s exact outrigger positioning relative to the runway. shoulders. To guarantee a stable lift platform for the crane and safeguard the airfield's infrastructure, a critical segment of the unpaved terrain was leveled using specialized backfill materials.

On Friday, Aug 14, 2026, the joint technical team utilized a 12-ton mobile crane to execute a multi-phase rigging and hoisting sequence. The initial lift extricated the aircraft from the crash site onto leveled ground, where the broken nose wheel assembly was temporarily stabilized using a configuration of pallets and tires.

The crane then executed a second lift, rotating the airframe 180 degrees to align and secure the front section onto a Silva Group flatbed transport vehicle. While in this position, mechanical crews successfully replaced one of the damaged main landing gear tires. Once secured, the aircraft was slowly and meticulously towed down the airfield network to the concrete apron.

A final crane sequence lifted the aircraft off the flatbed, re-stabilizing the nose section on pallets and tires within the secure apron staging footprint. The aircraft was secured to the apron using straps.

Over the next few days, the Canadian engineering team will systematically dismantle the airframe on-site while comprehensively documenting structural and systems damages. The components will be securely packed into two 40-foot shipping containers and transferred to the seaport for maritime transit back to Samoa.

"This successful operation is a testament to international and local inter-agency collaboration," stated Barney Sene, Director of Port Administration. 

"Thanks to the swift arrival of the joint preparatory team on Thursday morning, the tactical mechanical adaptations executed during the dual-lift sequence, the robust asset deployment from Silva Group, and the proactive airspace management through our NOTAM alerts, the aircraft was removed safely without any further impact to our airfield infrastructure."

Normal flight operations continue at Fitiuta Airport. PAAS engineering personnel have concluded final visual and physical sweeps of the runway clear zones to officially lift the temporary flight advisory.