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CNN Live At Daybreak
Investigation into Shuttle Tragedy
Aired February 03, 2003 - 06:06 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: Let's talk about eastern Texas and what's going on there right now. Four-wheelers and horses are now being used to search dense, wooded areas. Every piece of shuttle debris, no matter how small, will be taken to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.
And that's where our Mike Brooks is this morning.
How much debris have they gathered so far, Mike?
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's believed, Carol, that they've gathered the debris at the different sites. In Nacogdoches alone, there are over 800 different debris fields, different debris sites. None of the debris has started coming here to Barksdale Air Force Base yet.
But yesterday, the independent Columbia accident investigation board started to meet here. This board is going to be headed up by a retired four star admiral, Harold Gehmen. He is the former head of the investigation into the bombing of the USS Cole.
This independent board will be made up of representatives from the United States Air Force, the United States Navy, the Department of Transportation, FAA, and one senior NASA official.
Now, the admiral says that they have two imperatives. One is to find out what happened for the safety of the astronauts still in the program, and the other one is to find out exactly and quickly what happened to cause this tragedy for the sake of the astronauts who are still in space right now that are relying on the board for their findings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADM. HAROLD GEHMEN (RET.), INVESTIGATION CHIEF: We will look at everything from broken, twisted metal and metallurgy up to top-level management practices and policies. We will work rapidly but diligently.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROOKS: Now, yesterday afternoon, remains of some of the astronauts that had been found started to come here to Barksdale Air Force Base. They were brought here by a Blackhawk helicopter yesterday afternoon. The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology will try to identify those remains to find out exactly which astronaut's remains they found and hopefully will be some closure for the families -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, I heard Ramon's family, the astronaut from Israel, a rabbi is being sent to the United States to help identify his remains.
I have a couple of more questions for you, Mike, before you go. Will they try to reassemble the shuttle with the pieces that they find?
BROOKS: That is what we understand. There is a large amount of hangar space here. It is a B-52 base here at Barksdale Air Force Base. So, they will try to assemble any of the pieces that they do have here. And NASA officials will be here to examine every piece of wreckage that's found -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And I just want to get into one more thing before you go. They don't have enough police officers to guard all of the debris that's being found over that very large area. How big a problem is that going to be for investigators?
BROOKS: It's going to play some problem to them. Right now, I think people are starting to put buckets -- yesterday there was a story about a man who just placed a bucket over some of the debris. Law enforcement is trying to do what they can. They don't have as much manpower as they would like to have. But we have to remind people if they do find debris to call their local authorities, and we also have a number that they can call at the Johnson Space Flight Center.
So, you know, call those numbers and please don't pick it up. No. 1, it's against the law, and 2, it can be very, very toxic and can harm the people who are attempting to pick this up -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, don't keep it for some kind of grizzly souvenir.
BROOKS: No, not at all.
COSTELLO: Mike Brooks, many thanks to you.
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 February 3, 2003 - 06:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk about eastern Texas and what's going on there right now. Four-wheelers and horses are now being used to search dense, wooded areas. Every piece of shuttle debris, no matter how small, will be taken to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.
And that's where our Mike Brooks is this morning.
How much debris have they gathered so far, Mike?
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's believed, Carol, that they've gathered the debris at the different sites. In Nacogdoches alone, there are over 800 different debris fields, different debris sites. None of the debris has started coming here to Barksdale Air Force Base yet.
But yesterday, the independent Columbia accident investigation board started to meet here. This board is going to be headed up by a retired four star admiral, Harold Gehmen. He is the former head of the investigation into the bombing of the USS Cole.
This independent board will be made up of representatives from the United States Air Force, the United States Navy, the Department of Transportation, FAA, and one senior NASA official.
Now, the admiral says that they have two imperatives. One is to find out what happened for the safety of the astronauts still in the program, and the other one is to find out exactly and quickly what happened to cause this tragedy for the sake of the astronauts who are still in space right now that are relying on the board for their findings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADM. HAROLD GEHMEN (RET.), INVESTIGATION CHIEF: We will look at everything from broken, twisted metal and metallurgy up to top-level management practices and policies. We will work rapidly but diligently.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROOKS: Now, yesterday afternoon, remains of some of the astronauts that had been found started to come here to Barksdale Air Force Base. They were brought here by a Blackhawk helicopter yesterday afternoon. The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology will try to identify those remains to find out exactly which astronaut's remains they found and hopefully will be some closure for the families -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, I heard Ramon's family, the astronaut from Israel, a rabbi is being sent to the United States to help identify his remains.
I have a couple of more questions for you, Mike, before you go. Will they try to reassemble the shuttle with the pieces that they find?
BROOKS: That is what we understand. There is a large amount of hangar space here. It is a B-52 base here at Barksdale Air Force Base. So, they will try to assemble any of the pieces that they do have here. And NASA officials will be here to examine every piece of wreckage that's found -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And I just want to get into one more thing before you go. They don't have enough police officers to guard all of the debris that's being found over that very large area. How big a problem is that going to be for investigators?
BROOKS: It's going to play some problem to them. Right now, I think people are starting to put buckets -- yesterday there was a story about a man who just placed a bucket over some of the debris. Law enforcement is trying to do what they can. They don't have as much manpower as they would like to have. But we have to remind people if they do find debris to call their local authorities, and we also have a number that they can call at the Johnson Space Flight Center.
So, you know, call those numbers and please don't pick it up. No. 1, it's against the law, and 2, it can be very, very toxic and can harm the people who are attempting to pick this up -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, don't keep it for some kind of grizzly souvenir.
BROOKS: No, not at all.
COSTELLO: Mike Brooks, many thanks to you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
