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Command Post Established at Barksdale
Aired February 03, 2003 - 11:07 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: So you have all these pieces of debris spread across eastern Texas into Louisiana. A command post has been set up at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. It is there to oversee the recovery effort, to identify the remains, also to examine the wreckage of the shuttle.
Our correspondent, Mike Brooks, is at the base. He joins us with the latest on that -- Mike, good morning.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. That is correct. Here at Barksdale Air Force Base, the debris will eventually be brought here. I spoke a short time ago with a NASA official who said that the debris will start coming here possibly today, depending on the weather.
Right now it's starting to rain a little bit, so it depends on how they want to transport it here, either by air or by ground. Most likely it will be coming here by truck.
Now, also going on here at Barksdale is the independent board that's looking into the crash. This board is headed up by retired four star Navy Admiral Harold Gehman. This board is made up of representatives of the United States Air Force, the U.S. Navy, Department of Transportation, FAA, and one representative, senior manager of NASA.
Now, the admiral said he has two imperatives that he wants this board to accomplish. The first is to find out what happened for the safety of those astronauts that remain in the shuttle program. The second imperative is to find out quickly, and he said again, quickly what happened for the sake of the astronauts who are still in orbit today in the space station. He wants to find out -- a lot of those astronauts are relying on the findings of this board -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Mike, when I think about everything that's coming your way toward Barksdale Air Force Base, there is definitely two different types. You have the stuff, the debris, the metal, the left over parts of the shuttle, but you also have the human remains. And of course, the remains, evidence, part of the puzzle, but those belong to the families ultimately, and I would imagine there's a certain speed that's needed in processing that, and getting that on to the families so they can continue their mourning process.
BROOKS: Yes, they want to try to get, find exactly who these remains belong to as quickly as possible, Daryn. Yesterday the remains started to come here to Barksdale Air Force Base by Black Hawk helicopter. Those remains, some of them, we're told will be examined here. The other remains will be taken to Dover Air Force Base where the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology can undergo further tests with those remains to determine who they belong to, and hopefully some of the families can bring this whole incident to closure -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Mike Brooks at Barksdale Air Force Base, thank you very much.
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 - 11:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: So you have all these pieces of debris spread across eastern Texas into Louisiana. A command post has been set up at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. It is there to oversee the recovery effort, to identify the remains, also to examine the wreckage of the shuttle.
Our correspondent, Mike Brooks, is at the base. He joins us with the latest on that -- Mike, good morning.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. That is correct. Here at Barksdale Air Force Base, the debris will eventually be brought here. I spoke a short time ago with a NASA official who said that the debris will start coming here possibly today, depending on the weather.
Right now it's starting to rain a little bit, so it depends on how they want to transport it here, either by air or by ground. Most likely it will be coming here by truck.
Now, also going on here at Barksdale is the independent board that's looking into the crash. This board is headed up by retired four star Navy Admiral Harold Gehman. This board is made up of representatives of the United States Air Force, the U.S. Navy, Department of Transportation, FAA, and one representative, senior manager of NASA.
Now, the admiral said he has two imperatives that he wants this board to accomplish. The first is to find out what happened for the safety of those astronauts that remain in the shuttle program. The second imperative is to find out quickly, and he said again, quickly what happened for the sake of the astronauts who are still in orbit today in the space station. He wants to find out -- a lot of those astronauts are relying on the findings of this board -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Mike, when I think about everything that's coming your way toward Barksdale Air Force Base, there is definitely two different types. You have the stuff, the debris, the metal, the left over parts of the shuttle, but you also have the human remains. And of course, the remains, evidence, part of the puzzle, but those belong to the families ultimately, and I would imagine there's a certain speed that's needed in processing that, and getting that on to the families so they can continue their mourning process.
BROOKS: Yes, they want to try to get, find exactly who these remains belong to as quickly as possible, Daryn. Yesterday the remains started to come here to Barksdale Air Force Base by Black Hawk helicopter. Those remains, some of them, we're told will be examined here. The other remains will be taken to Dover Air Force Base where the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology can undergo further tests with those remains to determine who they belong to, and hopefully some of the families can bring this whole incident to closure -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Mike Brooks at Barksdale Air Force Base, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
