Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Officials Releasing New Details on Flight 587

Aired May 03, 2002 - 11:12   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: NASA and transportation officials are releasing new details today about the Flight 587 and that crash investigation. That's the one where the tail assembly came off the American Airlines plane when it went down in New York last November, killing all 265 people on board.

CNN's Jeanne Meserve joins us live from Hampton, Virginia, with an update -- Jeanne, good morning, once again.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. As you can see, the briefing is going on behind me. This is a briefing that is providing more questions than it is answers as to why American Flight 587 went down just minutes after it took off from John F. Kennedy Airport.

As you mentioned, Daryn, the tail did separate from the aircraft before it went down. And the tail on this Airbus A300 was made of composite materials. So they brought it here to NASA's Langley research facility to take a look at it. This is a place where they have developed the materials and also employed them and studied them. Marion Blakey, the chairman of the NTSB, came here this morning to take a look at the damage to this portion of the aircraft and also evaluate some of the techniques that are being used to study it, things that include ultrasound and thermographic cameras. And Blakey spoke a short time ago about some of the unique challenges of this investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARION BLAKEY, CHAIRMAN, NTSB: The crash of American Airlines Flight 587 really posed a unique challenge for all of us. Not only was it the second deadliest crash in U.S. history, but it also was the first example where we had an in-flight failure of a major structural component of an aircraft that, in fact, was made of composite materials. This is really a new day, if you will, in terms of accident investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: Investigators are trying to determine if there was preexisting damage to the tail section, whether the tail fin separated because of the arrow dynamic loads put on it or whether it failed to perform to its design specifications. It will be very long process. Blakey described it today as sort of peeling the layers of an onion. It will be some time before we have definitive answer as to why 587 went down. What they hope is that they will not only solve that mystery, but have recommendations that will make other aircraft safer. Daryn, back to you.

KAGAN: Jeanne Meserve in Virginia. Thanks very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com