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CNN Live At Daybreak

Relatives of Mid-Air Collision Victims Visit Crash Site

Aired July 04, 2002 - 06:44   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: Relatives of the Russian children killed in Monday's mid-air collision over Germany have been taken to the scene of the disaster.

Our Stephanie Halasz joins us live by phone from Ueberlingen, Germany with more -- good morning.

STEPHANIE HALASZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.

That's right, the family members arrived a little less than four hours ago. They were taken on buses to a special memorial service and then they had a chance to lay flowers at the crash site.

Now they're being attended by a psychologist. There is a crisis intervention team here for them to help them cope with this better. We heard yesterday that they may want to take some soil with them and some belongings.

Also today, the search continues for the three remaining bodies. Sixty-eight bodies have been recovered so far of the 71, and 600 policemen are now searching for the three remaining bodies. They hope to recover all of the bodies by the end of today. All in all, over 1,000 officers are out near the wreckage, near the scene of this crash. And the data recorders are being analyzed now by the German Federal Institute for Flight Safety -- Carol.

COSTELLO: In light of what we know about the investigation so far, Stephanie, could any disciplinary action be taken against the flight controllers?

HALASZ: It's very early to talk about that and no one really is. They're still trying to exactly determine what happened. The flight controller himself is in shock, we're being told. He is at home, and he's undergoing psychological counseling. But of course there are questions for him and for his company, Skyguide, the company that is handling for the Swiss Aviation Authority. We know that only one man was on duty that night. There was supposed to be a second man, but he was taking an unscheduled break.

Now also we know that there was an early collision warning system that was being maintenanced that night. They wanted to maintenance it at night so that it would be at work -- that it would be workable during the busy daytime. This early collision warning system is -- has been criticized before, and it is not unusual for it not being at work -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Stephanie Halasz reporting live for us by phone from Ueberlingen, Germany. Thank you for that report.

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