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CNN Live Today

Witnesses Saw Smoke From Plane Before Crash

Aired April 18, 2002 - 14:31   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Now, as promised, we want to update you on that ongoing investigation in Milan, Italy, where earlier today, roughly about four hours ago now, a small plane crashed into a very tall building, the tallest one in Milan, the Pirelli building.

The pilot of that plane had reported some difficulty, mechanical difficulty, when making an SOS call to the control tower. Shortly thereafter, witnesses say they saw a stream of smoke coming from that plane before it crashed into the upper levels of this 30-story concrete building.

At least four people now have been killed. That is the number that we're receiving, and dozens more injured. We want to bring in Kevin Michael Buckley. He's a British journalist. He's in Milan. He has the latest on the investigation and the rescue efforts, and responding to the injured there -- Kevin.

KEVIN MICHAEL BUCKLEY, JOURNALIST: Yes, good evening. It's starting to get dark here now in Milan. And the whole of the building is in complete darkness. The latest figures we have officially are that four are dead, including the pilot. It's still very confusing, the number of casualties, the number varies from several dozen, upward.

But again, they're still trying to confirm stories coming from people who work in the building. Remember, this is a 30-story building, housing the regional government in the heart of Milan. We had stories earlier this evening from people who came out of the building, saying that there was some kind of staff meeting going on that very floor at the time of the impact.

Of course, if that proves to be true, then we could be dealing with a far greater disaster in the number of fatalities. We're doing our best to confirm that. But for the moment, things are still confused here on the ground. I have to say that the authorities are doing a very good job in isolating the area.

There are many thousands of people milling around. Of course, the train station is just across the gap from this disaster scene. And that's been closed down as well. So tens of thousands of Milanese commuters are now having to find different ways to get home.

WHITFIELD: And now, Kevin, you mentioned that you've got darkness now there. An awful lot of people trying to find a way home, given that the rail station has been closed. And quite remarkable too, that this impact took place just as rush hour was beginning.

We've heard from many people who are familiar with that building say that ordinarily about 5:00, Milan time, people would have been making their way out of the building. But you said there still may have been some people, which is pretty ordinary in an office building, some people who still may have been conducting business inside, even after 5:00.

BUCKLEY: Exactly. I remember the impact precisely. I was working in my apartment about half a mile from the scene. And when my apartment shook, it was 5:47. The impact of the explosion, the noise, still, it's very difficult to believe that we are just talking about a small two, three, or four-seated plane hitting the side of a building.

Don't forget, the plane coming towards the end of its journey, one would imagine, with less fuel in its tank. I'm not a technician. I don't know much about that aspect. But all I can say is it reminded me of the bomb explosions that I covered when I lived in London during the IRA campaign.

First you have an enormous shockwave which rocks the building, and then moments later, the noise of the blast. Most reports -- I was talking to a French -- sorry, Swiss businessman, staying in a hotel just around the corner from here, who rushed out at the moment of impact to see what was going on. He related that most of the smoke and fire at that time was coming from the ground.

And certainly that ties in with what I saw when I first arrived, on the raised walkway, there is a slight slope to the entrance. And that's covered with various parts of debris. I would imagine that a large part of the plane and parts of the offices that were here fell down into that foyer area, where you enter the building.

Whether or not that stopped people from exiting, I don't know. We're still looking into that as well. But there was an awful lot of debris there. And that was where most of the smoke was coming from.

At the moment there are no lights, no signs of -- there are signs of very little movement inside the building itself. And I'm going to be going back over there in a second to find out the very latest on casualties.

WHITFIELD: Now, Kevin, aviation and emergency officials are still in the beginning stages of their investigation. But Italian officials want to make it very clear that right off the bat they do believe that this crash was the result of a mechanical problem and not a terrorist threat. Can you explain why it was so important for Italian authorities to come out so quickly at the beginning stages of this investigation to remark about this?

BUCKLEY: Well, I think we were saying in earlier reports, ironically, they came out so quickly, that their very first version, announced by the Italian prime minister, was that a terrorist attack had occurred in Milan. Certainly by the time I arrived here -- just minutes after, that was the official version. Within the hour that was retracted and the government said that they now believe the probability was that there was a dreadful accident.

I think the reason why the minister reacted as quickly as he did and then the second statement came out, is that the authorities here, ever since September and indeed before, have had various indications of activity by certain groups, terror groups. And I have to remind listeners that we have had two or three raids by secret services rounding up different cells.

Last year we had a group rounded up in north of Milan, just half an hour, a suburb, if you like. Many people commute every day. And people were shocked to find there was a terrorist cell operating from there. They were planning attacks, allegedly planning attacks. Now they are in prison.

The arrest at that time led to another series of arrests in Rome after the September attacks. Altogether, by last count, I think we have 28 suspects in custody in various parts of Italy, including raids very recently. And I have to remind you that we also have, if you like, a red alert announced by the government very publicly, that they were stepping up security over the Easter period.

So there was already this -- I wouldn't say expectation of an attack, but there was certainly this vigilance and this atmosphere that people were expecting something to happen. So when this happened today it was logical for anyone to jump to the conclusion that they jumped to.

WHITFIELD: Thank you very much, Kevin Michael Buckley, British journalist in Milan. Thank you for that update. Once again, Italian authorities believe that a plane crashed into the tallest building in downtown Milan because of mechanical failure and not because of a terrorist attack. At least four people have been killed. Dozens others injured.

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