Derailed fuselages removed from Montana river

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — Crews have removed all three commercial airplane fuselages from a river embankment in western Montana after they tumbled off a train in a derailment.

Montana Rail Link spokeswoman Lynda Frost tells the Missoulian (http://bit.ly/1nc298o ) that the last of the newly manufactured Boeing 737 fuselages was hoisted up Tuesday. A fuselage is the main body of an aircraft.

Nineteen train cars derailed Thursday, spilling three fuselages into the Clark Fork River near Alberton and three more near the tracks. Frost says the fuselages and their flatbed cars weigh a combined 70 tons each.

The fuselages and other airplane parts were being transported from a manufacturing plant in Wichita, Kansas, to Boeing facilities in Washington state.

Railway officials are investigating the cause of the derailment.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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