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CNN Live Today

Interview With Bob Tigert

Aired May 06, 2002 - 14:29   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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Dozens of airline passengers are back on firm ground, and thankfully, after spending some tense moments, actually hours, over middle Tennessee. They were onboard an American Airlines MD-80 with a disabled engine.

The plane landed, as you can see, safely last night at Nashville International Airport, after circling above the airport for nearly four hours to burn off the fuel. That plane had just taken off for Los Angeles when the engine trouble was discovered. No one was injured in the ordeal.

Bob Tigert was one of the passengers onboard that plane. He checks in with us now on the phone from Nashville to tell us about the ordeal of flight 1302. Bob, I know it feels good to be on the ground, doesn't it?

BOB TIGERT, FLIGHT 1302 PASSENGER: Well, it feels good to be on the ground. But now I'm getting ready to get off again on the same exact flight, 24 hours later.

CALLAWAY: Are you crazy?

TIGERT: Well, when they pay you to fly, you fly.

CALLAWAY: You got to fly, right. Now, you shot some incredible video of this incident. We're going to show it now. Tell us at first, you know, here I think we see a crew member. Can you tell us what's happening here?

TIGERT: Well, we did a fly-over about 300 feet over the runway, so that the control tower could find out what the damage actually was. And they actually couldn't see anything. So the pilot came on and said he was sending his copilot back to look through a porthole to see if he could see any damage to the engine or whatever.

CALLAWAY: We should tell everyone that the problem began right after takeoff. What did you hear? What did you experience in the plane?

TIGERT: Oh, it was -- I mean, as the wheels left the tarmac, we felt a couple of large hits, you know, big crashes and bangs. Three or four of them. Turns out that the engine blew a compressor or some sort. And I think right after that, because of the jerks on the engine, the tires blew as we left the runway. CALLAWAY: We honestly didn't think we were going to make it. That was the -- that was probably the scariest moments right there. Because the plane wouldn't get up. We just kind of hovered there between 200 and 300 feet. We would go up, and come back down and go up, come back down.

Bob, I'm looking at this video though, I cannot believe how calm everyone was.

TIGERT: Well, I think three things come into play. First, we had four hours to contemplate all the possibilities. And there is a lot of -- I didn't start shooting until about the third hour. And we just didn't know what was going to happen.

But a lot of the possibilities had gone through our head. I think it speaks greatly to the nobility of the human spirit. And I don't want to get stupid here, but by the same token, I think that there were a lot of people acting very responsibly and with dignity and intelligence.

I think that the American people right now are prepared to act in emergencies in the way that they should. And the third thing is, I'm absolutely certain we were -- there was no question in my mind.

CALLAWAY: Let's go back, Bob, and show the landing. I know you actually did roll the camera while you were landing -- a bumpy landing, no doubt, with damaged wheels and damaged engine. I think we have video of that. Let's see if we can go to it.

TIGERT: See how calm the guy is. The steward is very calm there. He said, brace, brace, brace.

CALLAWAY: Yes. It wasn't even that bumpy. I was sure you were expecting much worse.

TIGERT: Well, Brad Paisley was on the plane, the first class, and they quoted him in the paper saying that it was a smooth landing. We were back on the exit row and it was a little bumpier for us. But I guess that's the difference between first class and coach, isn't it?

CALLAWAY: Yes. So you were on your way to California. Did you ever make it? Obviously you didn't.

TIGERT: No, I'm in Nashville. And actually I'm on my way to Kuala-Lumpur. So my flight out of L.A. was -- I would have missed that. So I had a choice of spending the night in a hotel near the airport in L.A. or go home with my family who was a little bit frantic. So that was a no-brainer.

CALLAWAY: I'll just ask you one quick question. In this kind of crisis, I'm always curious. Four hours, and you don't know your fate is. Were a lot of people on their cell phones? Were they calling home? What was happening?

TIGERT: Well, some were on their cell phones. Some were not. I didn't call, because the exit row, they were focused on us. I asked him and he said the lady -- the attendant told us that if there was an emergency they'd prefer we not be on the phones. And I said sure, I understand that.

I think that the crew handled themselves well. The attendants handled themselves well. Yes, there was some crying and yes, there was some -- we all thought at one point or another, I suspect we all thought at one time or another it was going to be our last few moments. And it turned out not to be.

But I think that there was a lot of people -- there was some prayer going on. I got through it by reading the psalms.

CALLAWAY: Well, Bob Tigert, I'm so glad you're home safely. Have a terrific flight now. Good luck to you.

TIGERT: Only 30 hours to go on this flight.

CALLAWAY: Oh, dear. Thanks for joining us today.

TIGERT: Thank you.

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