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CNN Live At Daybreak
Seventy Killed in Midair Collision
Aired July 02, 2002 - 06:02 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: In Germany, search teams have found the flight recorder of a Russian jetliner involved in a collision with a cargo plane. At least 70 people have died in the accident; 52 of them were children.
The collision of the jetliner and the DHL cargo plane occurred over southern Germany. A spokesman for the air freight carrier said air traffic controllers tried to prevent the accident.
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AXEL GIETZ, DHL SPOKESMAN: Air traffic control Zurich, who are in charge of the air space there, repeatedly contacted the Russian pilot and asked him to change his altitude, because he was in a place he shouldn't have been. He did not respond.
At the very last minute, alerted by the traffic collision air avoidance system, our pilot tried to correct his altitude. However, it was either too late or the other plane maybe did not have this on board, because if you don't know where the other guy is, as it were, it's hard to say where you should go to avoid hitting him.
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COSTELLO: The Russian...
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The most clear (ph) explanation, if there is really no response at all from an aircraft, is that the crew of that aircraft, through some sort of misunderstanding or possibly they had written information down wrongly, but for whatever reason, they have changed the frequency of the radio that they are using. And then there can be a situation, where sometimes for several minutes the controller and the pilot are not in contact with each other.
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COSTELLO: The Russian plane was carrying the children to Spain for a holiday.
CNN's Moscow bureau chief, Joe Dougherty, has more on the victims.
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JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF (on camera): Russian President Vladimir Putin is now expressing his condolences to the families of those who perished in this airline catastrophe over Germany. The latest information is coming from a representative of Bashkirian Airlines, Sergei Rybanov. He says that the total number of people aboard was 69; that included 47 children under the age of 16. They were on their way from Moscow to Spain for a vacation in Spain.
The tour operator, which chartered the flight from Bashkirian Airlines, says that this trip was organized under the auspices of UNESCO, the United Nations organization. UNESCO so far is not confirming that.
The children and the adults who were aboard came from an area that's called Bashkiria, east -- far east of Moscow in the Urals region. The families, presumably, are there, and a hotline has been set up by the Russian government for them to get more information on what exactly happened.
Also, Russian investigators will be taking part in this investigation. They are going to be going to Germany, today presumably, and also a government commission has been formed to help out in the investigation of this very sad tragedy.
Jill Dougherty, CNN, Moscow.
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