Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Deadly Plane Crash: Search for Survivors
Aired December 26, 2003 - 06:40 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The death toll is rising following a plane crash in the West African nation of Benin. Rescue teams made a desperate attempt to find survivors in the wreckage of a Boeing 727. The jet crashed into the Atlantic Ocean yesterday after taking off from the airport, and it was en route to Beirut, Lebanon.
CNN's Brent Sadler joins us by phone from Beirut with the very latest -- Brent.
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Fredricka.
It is one of West Africa's worst air disasters. The mangled wreckage of a Boeing 727 jetliner disintegrating as it attempted to take off from Benin's beachfront airport. The flight was reportedly delayed for technical reasons just before the crash. But the plane was eventually cleared for takeoff.
Apparently struck by a catastrophic failure during the critical moment of initial flight. Witnesses say the crippled plane skidded down the runway, smashed into an airport building and burst into flames before nose-diving into the sea. Onboard the passenger-packed aircraft were scores of Lebanese heading to Beirut over the Christmas holiday season. A handful of survivors described the horrifying last moments of the plane's flight as a scene of carnage and panic with bodies and personal belongings scattered across the tarmac or tossed into the sea.
At Beirut International Airport, grief-stricken relatives awaited news from the crash site and news of when the living and the dead might be flown to Beirut on a special flight. It is a national tragedy for Lebanon's multi-religious society, now mourning the loss of Lebanese families who are part of a close-knit community of Lebanese business entrepreneurs often regarded as the economic backbone of many West African nations -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Now, Brent, can you describe the scene for us as some of those survivors of that plane crash, just over about 20 I believe the number is, how they were able to try to assist in helping out one another and retrieve some of the bodies?
SADLER: Well the stories we're getting back through relatives here in Lebanon that have spoken, about 18, 20 survived the flight's last moments when it crashed on the tarmac, went in the sea. And really they're talking really and told little about those last moments because it was such a traumatic event.
I mean you had the situation where people were actually picnicking on a beach at the end of the runway. They saw the plane dive into the sea. And fisherman and picnickers were among the first to get to the crash site and began pulling out bodies and began trying to pull out those who had survived at the back end, the tail end of the aircraft. So some pretty harrowing stories coming out from those survivors -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And, Brent, what's the best explanation as to why this plane hit the building? How it just seemed to fall apart like this?
SADLER: Too early to say at this stage, but obviously a lot of questions being raised about security, particularly as the aircraft, it's reported, had some sort of technical problem just before the takeoff, but too early to go to specifics of what might pulled -- have pulled it down. Some airport staff at the Benin Airport saying that it might have had something to do with the undercarriage. That's all we have so far.
WHITFIELD: All right. Brent Sadler, thanks very much for that report on the telephone there from Benin.
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 December 26, 2003 - 06:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The death toll is rising following a plane crash in the West African nation of Benin. Rescue teams made a desperate attempt to find survivors in the wreckage of a Boeing 727. The jet crashed into the Atlantic Ocean yesterday after taking off from the airport, and it was en route to Beirut, Lebanon.
CNN's Brent Sadler joins us by phone from Beirut with the very latest -- Brent.
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Fredricka.
It is one of West Africa's worst air disasters. The mangled wreckage of a Boeing 727 jetliner disintegrating as it attempted to take off from Benin's beachfront airport. The flight was reportedly delayed for technical reasons just before the crash. But the plane was eventually cleared for takeoff.
Apparently struck by a catastrophic failure during the critical moment of initial flight. Witnesses say the crippled plane skidded down the runway, smashed into an airport building and burst into flames before nose-diving into the sea. Onboard the passenger-packed aircraft were scores of Lebanese heading to Beirut over the Christmas holiday season. A handful of survivors described the horrifying last moments of the plane's flight as a scene of carnage and panic with bodies and personal belongings scattered across the tarmac or tossed into the sea.
At Beirut International Airport, grief-stricken relatives awaited news from the crash site and news of when the living and the dead might be flown to Beirut on a special flight. It is a national tragedy for Lebanon's multi-religious society, now mourning the loss of Lebanese families who are part of a close-knit community of Lebanese business entrepreneurs often regarded as the economic backbone of many West African nations -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Now, Brent, can you describe the scene for us as some of those survivors of that plane crash, just over about 20 I believe the number is, how they were able to try to assist in helping out one another and retrieve some of the bodies?
SADLER: Well the stories we're getting back through relatives here in Lebanon that have spoken, about 18, 20 survived the flight's last moments when it crashed on the tarmac, went in the sea. And really they're talking really and told little about those last moments because it was such a traumatic event.
I mean you had the situation where people were actually picnicking on a beach at the end of the runway. They saw the plane dive into the sea. And fisherman and picnickers were among the first to get to the crash site and began pulling out bodies and began trying to pull out those who had survived at the back end, the tail end of the aircraft. So some pretty harrowing stories coming out from those survivors -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And, Brent, what's the best explanation as to why this plane hit the building? How it just seemed to fall apart like this?
SADLER: Too early to say at this stage, but obviously a lot of questions being raised about security, particularly as the aircraft, it's reported, had some sort of technical problem just before the takeoff, but too early to go to specifics of what might pulled -- have pulled it down. Some airport staff at the Benin Airport saying that it might have had something to do with the undercarriage. That's all we have so far.
WHITFIELD: All right. Brent Sadler, thanks very much for that report on the telephone there from Benin.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
