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CNN Live Today

Egyptian Plane Crash

Aired January 06, 2004 - 10:18   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: Search crews are scouring the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt. And a short time ago, they announced that they may be closing in on the flight recorder of a plane that crashed over the weekend. All 148 people aboard were killed in the crash. U.S. officials now say four Americans are among those dead.
Let's go to Sharm El-Shaikh and get the latest from CNN's Chris Burns.

Chris, hello.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.

Rather surreal atmosphere here on the Red Sea Rivera, night falling. It's a beautiful, glitzy town here. But right off the shores there, that search goes on. The French Navy ships, as well as planes. We saw planes circling overhead today, as they tried to hone in on what they say is a signal, a very faint signal of what they believe is a black box from that Boeing 747 that crashed over the weekend. And they hope if they get to that signal, they can localize it, and then send divers down and possibly a robot-controlled submarine down to the bottom of the Red Sea. It could be hundreds of meters down there before they get to it. But they're trying to pinpoint, and that black box could some offer explanations as to why the plane went down so mysteriously without the pilot saying anything.

And so far, French and Egyptian officials believe that it was an accident, mechanical failure of some kind. They have to get that information from the black box to prove that.

Meanwhile, yes, U.S. officials have said that four of those victims were American. The French government says that yes, they had the dual citizenship, they had both French and American passports, guys like me, by the way. So that has settled that issue.

But up until now, the main mystery is really, what caused that plane to crash? And they hope that that black box will offer answers -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, Chris, thank you for the latest from Sharm El- Shaikh and the search for the black box.

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 6, 2004 - 10:18   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Search crews are scouring the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt. And a short time ago, they announced that they may be closing in on the flight recorder of a plane that crashed over the weekend. All 148 people aboard were killed in the crash. U.S. officials now say four Americans are among those dead.
Let's go to Sharm El-Shaikh and get the latest from CNN's Chris Burns.

Chris, hello.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.

Rather surreal atmosphere here on the Red Sea Rivera, night falling. It's a beautiful, glitzy town here. But right off the shores there, that search goes on. The French Navy ships, as well as planes. We saw planes circling overhead today, as they tried to hone in on what they say is a signal, a very faint signal of what they believe is a black box from that Boeing 747 that crashed over the weekend. And they hope if they get to that signal, they can localize it, and then send divers down and possibly a robot-controlled submarine down to the bottom of the Red Sea. It could be hundreds of meters down there before they get to it. But they're trying to pinpoint, and that black box could some offer explanations as to why the plane went down so mysteriously without the pilot saying anything.

And so far, French and Egyptian officials believe that it was an accident, mechanical failure of some kind. They have to get that information from the black box to prove that.

Meanwhile, yes, U.S. officials have said that four of those victims were American. The French government says that yes, they had the dual citizenship, they had both French and American passports, guys like me, by the way. So that has settled that issue.

But up until now, the main mystery is really, what caused that plane to crash? And they hope that that black box will offer answers -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, Chris, thank you for the latest from Sharm El- Shaikh and the search for the black box.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com