Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Latest on Deadly Plane Crash in North Carolina
Aired January 09, 2003 - 05:32 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.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Again, let's get back to our lead story, the deadly plane crash in Charlotte, North Carolina. All 21 people on board the Beech twin engine turbo prop were killed when it crashed into an airport hangar just after takeoff.
CNN's Eric Philips joins us by phone from Charlotte with the latest -- good morning, Eric.
ERIC PHILIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, John.
At this point, NTSB investigators are looking very closely at the two black boxes that were retrieved from the scene here. As you said, the pilot who was commandeering that aircraft tried to radio air traffic control moments before the plane crashed with some type of emergency. However, controllers were unable to find out the details of that emergency because that call was cut off. So they're hoping that the cockpit voice recorder will, in fact, yield some much needed clues into what happened in that crash.
They took off yesterday morning at around 8:45 a.m. Moments later, after it only traveled about 1,500 to 2,000 feet, the plane came crashing down into a huge fireball. The fire was doused quickly. However, all 21 people on board, that includes 19 passengers and two crew members, were killed. There were included in that number at least three college students, as CNN has learned.
Again, you've got a team of 12 NTSB investigators that are looking into this. We do know that the FAA has incident reports stating that a leaky fuel pump was replaced on this particular aircraft last fall and that last May faulty landing gear was fixed. And so they're not connecting any dots here per se, but they are saying that there have been problems with this aircraft in the past.
In addition to that, the FAA had put out an alert last August saying that all aircraft, all of the Beech 1900D turbo prop aircraft should be checked for possible loose bolts, or at least a possible loose bolt in the vertical stabilizer. And we're not sure at this point whether that check was done on this aircraft that was involved in the crash yesterday -- back to you.
VAUSE: Hey, Eric, just very quickly, there's some eyewitness reports that basically say that this plane crashed nose first into the hangar. What are you hearing there from those eyewitnesses?
PHILIPS: Well, that's exactly what we're hearing here, that it did come down, nose diving into the hangar, but that really it only clipped one wall of the hangar. A huge plume of smoke was the result. One of the walls is completely charred. But the hangar itself is not completely destroyed. But the plane did take off, barely making it into the air. It was unable to maintain its altitude and came crashing down, as you said, nose first.
VAUSE: OK, Eric, thanks a lot.
Eric Philips on the phone there reporting for us on the latest on that air crash in Charlotte.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 9, 2003 - 05:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Again, let's get back to our lead story, the deadly plane crash in Charlotte, North Carolina. All 21 people on board the Beech twin engine turbo prop were killed when it crashed into an airport hangar just after takeoff.
CNN's Eric Philips joins us by phone from Charlotte with the latest -- good morning, Eric.
ERIC PHILIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, John.
At this point, NTSB investigators are looking very closely at the two black boxes that were retrieved from the scene here. As you said, the pilot who was commandeering that aircraft tried to radio air traffic control moments before the plane crashed with some type of emergency. However, controllers were unable to find out the details of that emergency because that call was cut off. So they're hoping that the cockpit voice recorder will, in fact, yield some much needed clues into what happened in that crash.
They took off yesterday morning at around 8:45 a.m. Moments later, after it only traveled about 1,500 to 2,000 feet, the plane came crashing down into a huge fireball. The fire was doused quickly. However, all 21 people on board, that includes 19 passengers and two crew members, were killed. There were included in that number at least three college students, as CNN has learned.
Again, you've got a team of 12 NTSB investigators that are looking into this. We do know that the FAA has incident reports stating that a leaky fuel pump was replaced on this particular aircraft last fall and that last May faulty landing gear was fixed. And so they're not connecting any dots here per se, but they are saying that there have been problems with this aircraft in the past.
In addition to that, the FAA had put out an alert last August saying that all aircraft, all of the Beech 1900D turbo prop aircraft should be checked for possible loose bolts, or at least a possible loose bolt in the vertical stabilizer. And we're not sure at this point whether that check was done on this aircraft that was involved in the crash yesterday -- back to you.
VAUSE: Hey, Eric, just very quickly, there's some eyewitness reports that basically say that this plane crashed nose first into the hangar. What are you hearing there from those eyewitnesses?
PHILIPS: Well, that's exactly what we're hearing here, that it did come down, nose diving into the hangar, but that really it only clipped one wall of the hangar. A huge plume of smoke was the result. One of the walls is completely charred. But the hangar itself is not completely destroyed. But the plane did take off, barely making it into the air. It was unable to maintain its altitude and came crashing down, as you said, nose first.
VAUSE: OK, Eric, thanks a lot.
Eric Philips on the phone there reporting for us on the latest on that air crash in Charlotte.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
