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FAA Releases Traffic Control Tower Tapes Related to Teen Suicide
Aired April 22, 2002 - 11:48 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: New tapes out this hour. The FAA is releasing these tapes. It is related to that suicide crash into Tampa's Bank of America building in January. Our Patty Davis is in Washington and she has more on that. Patty, good morning.
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
Well, 15-year-old Charles Bishop was at the St. Petersburg- Clearwater International Airport for a flight lesson in January when he stole a single engine Cessna and took off for Tampa apparently on a suicide mission. Now, the tower at the Tampa airport spotted his unauthorized take off, and asked a Coast Guard helicopter flying nearby to try to get him to land. Two F-15s also scrambled from a nearby air base to try to intercept Bishop in the air, but they were too late. Now, there were 19 minutes of FAA air control tower tape released today, and you are about to hear an excerpt of that, the conversation between the tower and the Coast Guard helicopter.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tampa tower, Coast Guard 6013.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coast Guard 6013 comma (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir, we're currently in the vicinity of Tampa General (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to a single Cessna November 2371 November. Been advised he took off from St. Pete, 15-year-old student, took off with an unauthorized clearance. We are trying to give him hand signals to maybe get him to land at Peter O'Night (ph), however, he doesn't seem to be responding. And -- we're just -- we may impede on your airspace here, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coast Guard 6013, you are IDed and you are right on contact. Your altimeter is 3015.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 3015.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 20 November, turn left heading 080 and report to East-West runway East side.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tampa.
(END AUDIO CLIP) DAVIS: Now that is the emergency signal locator in Bishop's Cessna, indicating that he has crashed into that Bank America building in Tampa. Now, Bishop did leave a suicide note, praising Osama bin Laden and the September 11 terrorist hijackings, but authorities believe that Bishop did act alone, that it was an apparent suicide, that there was no connection to the al Qaeda.
Last week, Bishop's mother filed a lawsuit claiming that the maker of the drug Accutane, an acne drug that her son had been taking, was, in fact, responsible for his death, and did in fact lead him to commit suicide. The drug company, Hoffman-La Roche, though, saying that there is no connection -- Daryn.
KAGAN: So any insight, besides the front row seat of getting to listen to this that these tapes provide?
DAVIS: Well, investigators, National Transportation Safety Board still listening for every single clue on this tape that it can, but this is the only tape that is available to them. Small planes, this Cessna, in fact, and small planes like it do not have cockpit voice recorders, don't have flight data recorders. So, this conversation between air traffic as well as the helicopter, a big part of what investigators really have to go on -- Daryn.
KAGAN: All right. Patty Davis in Washington. Thank you. Good to see you, Patty.
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