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Snow Strands Thousands of Cars in Kentucky; Delta Flight 1086 Skids off Runway; NTSB to Investigate Flight 1086; Port Authority Holds News Conference; Update on Stranded Cars in Kentucky

Aired March 05, 2015 - 13:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Clearly this is an extremely dangerous situation right now in Kentucky. And as you point out, and our viewers probably are aware, they're not used to this kind of weather in Kentucky here in the United States. I guess the bottom line is, have you had injuries already? What's the status of the folks in those vehicles?

MARK MALONE, ADMINISTRATIVE BATTALION CHIEF, ELIZABETHTOWN, KENTUCKY, FIRE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): Right now we don't have any injuries. We've been able to get everyone that needed to be moved from their car to a warming center where they - where they're able to make contact with wrecker services and AAA and the different companies and start to make arrangements to get their vehicles out of the snow.

BLITZER: So basically, what I'm seeing is a lot of people have simply abandoned their cars and gotten a ride someplace to stay protected and stay warm, is that right?

MALONE: That's correct. That is a dangerous time. Those cars that are abandoned wind up getting covered with snow from the plows. When plows come through later on, they don't know that car's there. We tried to leave someone with the vehicle if we could that could get it out of the way once the road was open. If not, we've asked them to push it off to the shoulder.

BLITZER: Chief Mark Malone, of the Elizabethtown Fire Department.

Chief, good luck to you. Good luck to all the men and women helping. Good luck to everyone over there.

This is just one part of the country right now suffering from this severe weather, snow and ice and sleet. It's an awful, awful situation.

We're standing by for a news conference from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey dealing with the other breaking news, weather related. A Delta flight skidding as it touched down at LaGuardia Airport. Fortunately, stopping before it goes over a berm into the water. We're going to find out what happened.

Take a look at this video. This picture. This is an MD-88 Delta. This is Delta flight 1086. It took off this morning from Atlanta Hartsfield airport. Landed at LaGuardia at 11:05 a.m. this morning upon landing. The size and the snow was simply too much. The plane began skidding and it stopped fortunately just before it went in the water.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting from Washington.

We're following breaking news. This Delta aircraft with 131 people on board landing at LaGuardia Airport. But then because of the ice on the runway began skidding and got perilously close to the water that surrounds LaGuardia Airport. It stopped on a berm, a little hill. If it would have gone over into the water, would have been a complete disaster. Bunch of people injured. One taken to the hospital. Everyone off that plane right now.

We're standing by for a news conference. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the major airports in the New York or New Jersey area, they're about to have a news conference. We're going to have live coverage of that news conference, get more specific details how this happened.

We know the National Transportation Safety Board already announced it is sending investigators to LaGuardia to find out what happened.

Let's discuss what happened with our safety analyst, David Soucie, joining us on the phone.

Don't the air traffic controllers know the runway is icy and it's not a good time to land, David?

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST (voice-over): They're supposed to know that. That's going to about the first thing that the FAA looks at. The NTSB will look at the approximate cause, which is the last thing that would have prevented it which is going to fall onto the pilots. The FAA is going to be looking at this because if that Port Authority had made the -- had reported the conditions improperly to the air traffic controllers and those air traffic controllers said it's safe to fly, there's going to be an incredible investigation and this is not the way to run an airport.

BLITZER: How common is something like this, a plane lands, it's snowing. We know it's icy. It lands at 11:05 a.m. How common is it that they obviously misjudged the conditions on the runway?

SOUCIE: It's not very common at all. There's a lot of technology involved. There's two types of friction. There's rolling friction and static friction. The rolling friction, which is what you get when you land an airplane, those tires are rolling. There's tests done continuously on that airport to tell you whether or not the rolling friction is going to be sufficient to keep that airplane on the runway. So I really suspect that something went awry with the way that that was reported.

BLITZER: Sometimes we're told that those runways can freeze very, very quickly, that it looks OK, but then a few minutes later, it's frozen. Is that right?

SOUCIE: Yes, it is. They're using a chemical on the runways now called urea because you can't use salt or gravel for obvious reasons. This is something that's unpredictable because it does a great job of anti-icing and deicing the runway. A really good job. However, it looks black. It looks like a black -- black ice, if you will. So once it gets to a certain level, once it does freeze, it happens extremely quickly. Right when it gets to that freezing point of that runway, it happens very, very quickly. So that could also be one of the reasons that it may not have been reported properly as to the safety of landing there.

BLITZER: Understandably though, they have shut down all the runways at LaGuardia Airport now. They're erring on the side of caution. No planes taking off or landing at least until 7:00 p.m. eastern later tonight.

David Soucie, stay with us for a moment.

I want to go back to Miguel Marquez over at LaGuardia Airport.

You're getting new pictures on what happened, Miguel?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, we're getting a very clear picture of what the front of that plane looks like. It gives a sense of how fast that plane was going when it hit the berm. You can see the cockpit hanging over that berm over the bay. The nose cone of that plane is off, destroyed clearly. And the landing gear, you can see literally the landing gear ripped from the bottom of the plane giving you a sense of just what a jolt passengers had as that plane came in for a landing. According to everybody that we've either heard from, seen reported, or that you've talked to on your own show, that plane hits the runway and then began to skid almost immediately without ever gaining traction, fish-tailing basically out to the left. The wing at some point came off and that front bit went over the embankment. We also understand that there was a fuel leak, about a thousand gallons on fuel that leaked from that left wing.

All of the passengers in the other pictures that we see were escaping out the right side of that plane. Officials tell us that 16 individuals were injured, light back and neck injuries. One person was injured badly enough to transport him to a hospital. But amazing, amazing that that much force and there weren't worse injuries. One pilot I did speak to that landed on the exact same runway, 13, about 10, 15 minutes before the Delta flight, did say when they hit the runway, it was slick, but he did not slip. He got traction and was able to bring the plane into control. He did say in conditions like this, the temperature dropping very fast, the snow has been coming down heavier and heavier throughout the day, that it could have become much more slick in just that short period of time -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Interesting. We're now told, Miguel, that 24 people have been injured out of the 131 on board this aircraft. 125 passengers, six crew members, pilots and flight attendants.

David Soucie, that little berm at the end of that runway and that little fence that clearly prevented this MD-88, this Delta aircraft from going over and into the -- into the water there that surrounds LaGuardia Airport, is that why they have those berms and fences, to stop a huge aircraft like this?

SOUCIE: Actually, what the berms are for is to prevent fuel from getting into the bay, but it also has a secondary purpose of preventing an aircraft from going off. It really is a testament to the airport's designers because that is -- it's a dual purpose and that is what saved lives. It truly is. The engineers rarely get enough credit for the way that they design airports for safety such as this. Clearly, this is a case of saving lives.

BLITZER: We heard from the air traffic controller, the audio -- and I want you to explain what this means when we hear the air traffic controller saying airport is closed, airport is closed, we've got a 3- 4. What is a 3-4?

SOUCIE: A 3-4 is that there's an aircraft on the runway, that there's nothing that can be done about it. It's can't be moved. It's can't be pushed. It's on the runway so you can't land on the runway. That's what they've got going there. I don't think that the -- 3-4 doesn't necessarily say dispatch anything yet. It's just a warning ahead of time.

BLITZER: Then the tower says, please advise, crash rescue, LaGuardia Airport is closed at this time. That's what they told all the aircraft hoping to land at LaGuardia. Clearly, they weren't going to land at LaGuardia. They were going to land some place else.

We're going to take a quick break. We're waiting for this Port Authority news conference. Officials are about to brief us on what happened at LaGuardia Airport. We'll have coverage when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Port Authority officials are holding a news conference now on this LaGuardia crash. Let's listen.

PATRICK FOYE, DIRECTOR, NEW YORK PORT AUTHORITY: Never made contact with the water. The aircraft was carrying 127 passengers and five crew members. Happily, there are only minor injuries that have been reported. At this point, we believe two passengers have been transported to hospitals. That number may change.

The emergency response, why the airport rescue and firefighting, which is a division of the Port Authority police, was exemplary, four of our trucks responded, plus a stair truck. 14 airport rescue and firefighters in total. Port Authority aviation staff at the airport had 50 people on the airfield. Response was in minutes. The Port Authority police trained for this repeatedly during the last three weeks. There were two drills here at LaGuardia for exactly this circumstance.

Last thing, I'll report is that we expect to open up the other runway 422 at approximately 2 00 p.m. Some flights have been diverted to Newark and to other airports. As Ron mentioned at the beginning of the conference, the NTSB is on

the way to LaGuardia. We will be cooperating with them closely as with Delta. We're not going to speculate or comment on the causes of today's accident.

With that, I'll turn it over to Gail Grimmett of Delta Airlines.

GAIL GRIMMETT, DELTA AIRLINES: Thank you, Pat.

This morning, upon landing, Delta flight 1086 from Atlanta to LaGuardia exited runway 13. The MD-88 aircraft was carrying 127 customers and five crew members. Customers were deplaned safely and moved to the terminals on buses. They have subsequently been reunited with their families and are in the midst of going back home or into the city.

We are working cooperatively with the Port Authority, the NTSB and all officials during the course of this investigation.

The safety of our passengers and our crews is Delta's number-one priority. I want to thank the extraordinary efforts of the Port Authority, ARF, the PAPD for their quick response in this situation.

And I also want to express Delta's sincere appreciation to our crews to help keep our passengers safe and get them to the terminals safely.

Thank you.

FOYE: We'll take a few questions. As I mentioned before, given the fact the NTSB is on the way, we're not going to comment on causes. We'll leave that to the NTSB.

(INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What was the -- (INAUDIBLE QUESTION).

FOYE: Good question, Pat. Shortly before the incident at approximately 11:05, two planes landed and reported, quote, "good braking action on the runways." This particular runway had been plowed shortly before the incident and pilots on other planes reported good braking action.

Yes? Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

FOYE: I think the pilot did everything we could to slow the aircraft down. Obviously the pilot and the co-pilot's good efforts were reflected in the fact that there were only minor injuries.

Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

FOYE: Yeah, I think what you're referring to is what's called EMAS, an FAA required area at the end of each runway here at LaGuardia which slows aircrafts down if they overshoot. As I mentioned, approximately 4,500 to 5,000 feet down the runway, the plane veered to the left, so it did not make contact with the EMAS.

Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

FOYE: Sure. The Port Authority's responsibility for plowing and maintaining the runways in a clean operable condition. The FAA decides which runways are used, which approach planes and pilots will use, and it's up to pilots to accept the designation of the FAA.

Yes, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

FOYE: OK. With respect to passengers, the chutes as we understand did not deploy. The airport rescue and firefighting division of the Port Authority police was on scene. As I mentioned, there were 14 ARF firefighters on scene. You could see images of those ARF staff members on the wings helping passengers deplane. The passengers: were bussed to a terminal here at LaGuardia.

Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

FOYE: Fuel spill. There was a minor fuel spill. The fuel for a time was leaking out at a rate of about a gallon a minute. The fuel -- the leak was stopped. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is on scene. Port Authority, ARF airport rescue and firefighting crews applied foam and the situation is under control. I would also note there was a significant presence by the firefighters of the city of New York and we thank them for their response.

Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

FOYE: Not -- minor injuries. Yes. Minor injuries.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

FOYE: It was level five. We were at level five staffing, full staffing today, and it was snow condition five.

Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

FOYE: The plane did not make contact with the water. That was happily -- that was never a risk today. I don't know. I'd be speculating.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

FOYE: Pat, it was on a berm or embankment. Beyond that, I'm not going to speculate.

Yes, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

FOYE: Minute.

Yes? Yes, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

FOYE: No, that's not what I said. Two pilots who landed in the minutes before reported breaking action.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

FOYE: I'm sorry, I just didn't hear -- I didn't hear the question.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

FOYE: Yes. Sure.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

FOYE: Look, the decision to allow planes to land, which runway is used and which approach is used, is up to the FAA. Obviously, the Port Authority consults closely. We had the right staff here at LaGuardia today, given the conditions. They responded literally within a minute. And the runway had been plowed literally minutes before, and other pilots had reported good braking action.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

FOYE: Ultimately, obviously, the pilot's decision.

Last question. Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

FOYE: I'm not going to address any of those questions. I think those were appropriately directed to the NTSB once they have commenced and finished their investigation.

Thank you. Thank you all.

BLITZER: So there you get the latest information from the Port Authority which operates the major airports in the New York, northern New Jersey area.

He now says that Delta had 127 passengers on board and five crew members and 132 people altogether. Minor injuries. Some individuals have been transported to hospitals. The fire department of New York, by the way, has different people saying 24 injured, nonlife- threatening and three transported to hospitals after this Delta MD-88 skidded off the runway. Fortunately, stopped just before it would have crossed an embankment or that berm and gone through the fence into the waters that surround LaGuardia Airport.

David Soucie, our safety analyst, was listening closely what we just heard from the Port Authority and the Delta spokeswoman.

What did you think, David?

SOUCIE: Two things stood out to me. He said minutes prior to this, there was good braking action and that was reported by the two pilots who had just landed just minutes before this. You had mentioned before, Wolf, about how quickly conditions can change. Yes, you do have good braking action until you don't and that is what happened here. It looks like to me. One of the other things he mentioned was the e-mass area. It's important because over the last few years and what was supposed to be completed by the end of this year is the runway safeties of each runways was examined to make sure if overfly of the runway that the aircraft is safe toward the end of the runway. LaGuardia is one of the airports identified as not having enough land mass to increase that runway safety area, therefore, they installed the engineered materials arresting system, EMAS, which is what he was talking about there. Thankfully, the aircraft didn't end up in the EMAS area but that indicates the aircraft went off the runway prior to coming to the end of the runway and can cause injuries to the passengers because you're in a sideways motion instead of a direct forward motion when the aircraft comes to a stop.

BLITZER: The NTSB, the National Transportation Safety Board, the FAA, they are going to be investigating how this happened, what happened. It's going to take them a long time to figure it out, though, right?

SOUCIE: Yes. Two things will be investigated from different -- this is the different roles of the NTSB and the FAA. NTSB will look at the proximate cause or the last thing that could have prevented the accident before it happened. And that most likely fall on the pilot because the pilot is the one that makes the decision as to whether he wants to accept the conditions at the runway or not. The FAA is looking for something different. The FAA has nine responsibilities. Within those is one of, did the proper procedure, were proper procedures followed in order to buy the airport and Port Authority whether they cleared the runway properly, and if they did or didn't, did they report those conditions back to the air traffic controllers or give to the pilots properly? So those are the two main focuses of the NTSB and FAA at this time.

BLITZER: Can this plane be repaired? We see some significant structural damage to this MD-88.

SOUCIE: I do not think it will be. Typically, aircraft that go through accidents like this, there is a number of reasons not to repair the aircraft. Number one, the parts that are on the aircraft are probably more valuable than the aircraft itself to be parted out. Number two, the insurability of the aircraft can be affected by the number of repairs onboard the aircraft, at least in the United States. If it is repaired, it would be likely to see that body or that particular serial number show up in a different country that has lesser standards than we might.

BLITZER: David Soucie, as usual, thank you very much.

Breaking news elsewhere in the United States, weather-related, in the state of Kentucky, a state not necessarily known for major winter storms, but that is why we are calling it breaking news right now. Get this. 21 inches of snow has stranded hundreds of cars and trucks on a major interstate, Interstate 65, south of Louisville since 10:00 eastern time last night. Fourteen hours now.

The U.S. National Guard is on the guard. Lieutenant Colonel Kirk Hillbrick is joining us on the phone.

How bad is it, Colonel?

Lt. COL. KIRK HILLBRICK, KENTUCKY NATIONAL GUARD (voice-over): Thank you, Wolf, for having me on here.

As you can imagine, having people stranded on the roads is never a good day for anybody. We are actually taking care of two locations. One location you just identified I-65, both 10 miles north and south of Elizabethtown. We also have stranded motorists on I-24. That's in western Kentucky just outside of Paducah. So we have been -- we were called up earlier this morning and what we have been doing is taking stranded motorists to warm care facilities where they can get water or any kind of treatment they might need. We have already had a couple of cases of folks that needed insulin or may have been diabetic. As soon as we come upon them, we are taking them to these comfort centers.

BLITZER: We are showing our viewers the video of these cars and trucks, other vehicles simply stranded on the icy interstate on the roads there.

Do you have enough personnel, enough equipment to rescue these people? Because, clearly, their engines no longer can operate. No more gasoline, so the heat isn't working.

HILLBRICK: Most definitely. We have over 8,500 guardsmen on standby. We have activated the units that are in those areas in both western Kentucky outside of Paducah and, obviously, in the E-Town area to make sure they are the first to respond. We have a lot of other folks that are ready and willing to go down and help render aid. But right now, that's what we are doing.

BLITZER: Do you have a count yet on how many people have been stranded?

HILLBRICK: Well, not yet. We do have -- we do know the numbers are flooding in from the emergency management area. Managers from both Paducah and the E-Town areas but we don't have an exact count yet -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Give us a perspective. How unusual is this in Kentucky?

HILLBRICK: This is a less than a month since our last weather event, winter-weather event. Even though they normally pre-treat our roads, last night, we had torrential rain. Any salt put down would be washed away. Last night, that rain froze. Then we had anywhere between 8 to 12 inches of snow, depending on what area you're in. And even though we had plow teams out all night and throughout the commonwealth, within two hours, the snow packed up again. Compound that with some people who normally don't drive on those road conditions and you have one or two jackknifed trailer tractors and you have this kind of congestion.

BLITZER: We are talking about 21 inches of snow in Kentucky within a matter of only a few hours. That is pretty extraordinary when you think about it.

HILLBRICK: Most definitely. Luckily and fortunately, the folks we work with create our wonderful Humvees to allow us to navigate those treacherous roads.

BLITZER: Do you think you'll get everybody rescued before it gets dark?

HILLBRICK: That is our intentions. We are working with local authorities. State troopers have been out there since hour one, along with other folks that have rendered aid through, you know, volunteer services and people with Jeeps and other kinds of four-wheel drives. This has really been a community effort to help those that have been stranded.

BLITZER: Is there any message -- do you need any additional help from outside?

HILLBRICK: Right now, just if you don't need to be on those roads, please don't. We are trying to take care of those that are already stranded.

BLITZER: Good luck to you, Lieutenant Colonel Kirk Hillbrick with the National Guard.

And good luck to the men and women helping you, everyone who is involved in this rescue operation. It's a major rescue operation in Kentucky right now. You see car after car and truck after truck simply stranded on those interstates. What a story that is.

That is it for me. I'll be back at 5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room."

For our international viewers, "Amanpour" is next.

For our viewers in North America, "Newsroom" with Ana Cabrera starts right now with Ana Cabrera.