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Husband's Quiet Suffering From Flight 370; Mystery of Flight 370

Aired March 21, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Now, again, this British newspaper "The Telegraph" saying that they have obtained those 54 minutes up until that last communication that we all know of. We have heard so much about it, "All right, good night."

And that happened as the pilots were moving from Malaysian airspace switching over to the next set of controllers in the Vietnamese airspace, and then that's it. We didn't hear any other communications.

So, we are waiting to see anything, was there out of the ordinary in those 54 minutes or was it just routine, where they simply would be following the instructions of air traffic control and reporting back to air traffic control what their position is, what their altitude is? We don't know yet. But we are paying close attention to when it is revealed, Brooke.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: OK. We're watching and waiting for that. Let me follow up for this, because we're together today too there are different two calls. Not to confusion everyone, but there was this one call reportedly made by the pilot before takeoff, eight minutes before takeoff from his cell phone.

Second report, there was a call apparently made six minutes before "All right, good night" when they were into the air and that happened at 1:19 in the morning. And that was delivered by the cockpit. Do we know more about that phone call, Rene?

MARSH: We don't.

Brooke, within this "Telegraph" article that tells us that they will be releasing the full transcript, they mentioned this call that happened six minutes before.

It is unclear exactly what they are referring to. And when we get that transcript, we do expect to then get a little more clarity on that. But what we know based on the facts is that that ACARS system blasted down that last bit of information at 1:07. We know that "All right, good night" happened at 1:19 and then we know the transponder went off at 1:21, and some time after that, the plane made that sharp turn.

Those are the facts that we know so far. Will we learn something new when we get those transcripts? That remains to be seen and literally within minutes we are hoping to start seeing that transcript trickle down to us.

BALDWIN: OK. We will pop back in front of the camera as soon as we get that, but we are waiting for again this report of the communications between the co-pilot and the ground transportation. It's just posting online. We are getting more information and we're bringing two experts out there on standby just to analyze exactly what we can learn and what we may not.

Also in a couple of hours, the next search by plane for possible debris from Flight 370 will begin. Earlier, you had the low-lying surveillance planes and they flew about hours round-trip from Perth, Australia, just to get two hours of searching done in this remote part of the Indian Ocean.

Let's go to Perth to our correspondent there, Kyung Lah.

And, Kyung, at this point in time, how much of the search area itself has been combed through?

KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The first day, we know, about 23,000 square kilometers and the second day about that much as well.

We are looking at is a total of 600,000 square kilometers that they have to cover. They have only been able to do about 50. There is a lot of air and a lot of sea to cover. It is going to be difficult and arduous.

Now, what we did hear from the Royal Australian Air Force yesterday when they landed is that conditions are quite good out there. The weather here is not as great. But the conditions there are quite good. They had a successful day, at least as far as the conditions. But they were not able to find anything. And that is what frustrating they say right now.

The people who are out there on those planes that you are talking about, they are carried by hope. They are optimistic still, but in the same breath, they say, we don't know what the debris is -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Just to underscore for us, as I mentioned, it is eight hours round-trip just to go from where you are in Australia to this search location and back. Just -- I think that just further hits it home for me how remote this area is.

LAH: It's extremely remote. If you talk to people here in Australia about how remote this is, they talk about this as being as far away as you can ever imagine.

No one goes there. Shipping channels don't go there. Many commercial airlines don't go there. It is remote. There is nothing is around it. And that is where they are trying to find this debris if it is indeed connected to the disappearance of this plane. So, eight hours round-trip, yes. Only two hours is what the time frame is what I would like to concentrate on. Two hours is all they get before they have to turn back around for more fuel.

BALDWIN: Kyung Lah, 3:00 in the morning where you are, Kyung, thank you so much, live in Perth, Australia.

The U.S. Navy has sent though this brand-new cutting edge airplane into the search for Flight 370.

So, David Mattingly is standing by live in Jacksonville with the P-8 Poseidon aircraft.

David, what does the plane do and how does it help?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, we got an extraordinary look inside this plane flying over the ocean just outside of Jacksonville, Florida, here.

It was really an interesting lesson we got. This is the most high- tech piece of equipment they have just recently added to the arsenal. It has only been deployed just as recently as December overseas.

It is a brand-new aircraft and so much inside of it is classified that we were not able to take pictures of. But I can tell you they do have infrared capability. Of course, they have got radar. They have got very sophisticated cameras on there. And yet the Navy is telling me that they are not making any promises in this search, in spite of all that high-tech equipment, in spite of all the sophistication.

They still have yet to narrow down the search area, and because it's so far away, even though this aircraft is unlike the others out there in that it flies faster and it can get to the search area faster, it can cover more ground, it's out there just a maximum of three hours a day using that equipment and that is a big remote area of the ocean.

Everything they are telling us is that this equipment is great, but until they have a smaller area to look at, they are afraid they are not going to be more productive.

BALDWIN: I just have to ask. I don't know if you know the answer, but you talk about the technology on board this plane. How much would this kind of aircraft set you back?

MATTINGLY: Well, this aircraft is made to search for submarines. It has sophisticated equipment to monitor underneath the waves and above the waves. It has a very wide area that it has the ability to look and search.

But, again, right now the area is so vast, they really can't deploy and make use of a lot of the technology that they have. They are having to fly out there at a level of 1,000 feet. And at that level, you are pretty close to the ocean. That's so that they can pick up every object possible that is around them on this equipment.

It's taking a lot of time and they are not able to get up to high altitudes yet to cover very wide areas, because they really don't know what they are going to be looking for. It could be something as big as a large piece of an airplane or it could be something as small as a flotation device or a cushion from some -- inside the aircraft.

BALDWIN: Right. MATTINGLY: They are having to be very low and that limits what they are able to see.

BALDWIN: I didn't actually mean set you back geographically. I meant set you back dollars and cents. How much do we spend on these planes?

MATTINGLY: I don't have the dollar figures for you , but I can tell you...

BALDWIN: OK. Not inexpensive.

MATTINGLY: That's probably not a secret. But what they have on there is, and it's all very expensive.

BALDWIN: Incredible. David Mattingly, can't wait to watch your full report tonight on the Navy's search-and-rescue efforts tonight, "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" 7:00 Eastern here on CNN.

Coming up next, we will take a closer look at the radar used to track planes, technology aboard planes, like we were discussing, and even how this missing flight could change the way you travel. We have experts, an aviation accident investigator, a former 777 pilot, all standing by, ready to analyze all the angles for us. And we will ask them about the communication between the cockpit and ground control, this news we are awaiting. That's next.

Plus, analyzing exactly what kind of ships and planes and helicopters are searching this area. Are they equipped to handle this type of mission? What are the hurdles that they will be facing? Plus, we are answering your questions. Keep the tweets a coming at @BrookeBCNN. I have seen some greats one on my Twitter feed. Keep them sending them with the hashtag #370Qs. We will get them asked live here on CNN to our experts in 15 minutes from now.

Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: New to CNN, we're waiting for more details on this report of 54 minutes of communications with pilots of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 from the time the plane taxied down that runway until that "All right, good night," those words, that final verbal communication.

Here's what we are waiting for. The British newspaper "The Daily Telegraph" said that they have transcripts of these conversations between air traffic control and the cockpit. We are waiting for that.

But joining me now to discuss myriad other issues, former aviation accident investigator Ric Gillespie and Bill Savage, a former 777 pilot and certified airline accident investigator as well.

Gentlemen, welcome to you.

And since we don't know much at this point really about this transcript, Bill, this is the only thing I want to ask on that so far, and that being, what will you be looking for when it is released? WILLIAM SAVAGE, COMMERCIAL AIRLINE PILOT: I would like to hear the transcript from the time they pushed back until their last communication, "All right, good night."

That contextualizes exactly how the flight was progressing. And it would be anywhere from eight to 10 to 15 transmissions from the time they pushed back until that last transmission that you heard. Not unusual at all for that amount of communication in the departure phase of the flight. And you would also be able to make perhaps a sound comparison between the voice on the rest of the tape and that last communication.

So, you really need to hear the whole thing.

BALDWIN: And you're talking about hearing. I think so we are just talking about reading a written transcript that "The Telegraph" claims they have. We are waiting for that.

Meantime, let me just move along, Ric, to you. I want to get on this issue of the cargo whole. I feel like little has really been discussed about what this plane was carrying and specifically those lithium ion batteries. Right? We heard from the Malaysia Airlines CEO today saying that they were in the cargo hold and he qualified them as not dangerous goods.

Do you agree with that, Ric?

RIC GILLESPIE, FORMER AVIATION ACCIDENT INVESTIGATOR: Well, if they are properly containerized, yes. It's an inherently dangerous object, but you don't let it on the airplane if it is not safely packaged.

And I don't see these batteries -- even if they did start leaking, I don't see them causing the sequential shutdown of systems that appears to have happened.

BALDWIN: It sounds like it was an accident on the UPS cargo plane a couple of years ago that that happened, but for every maybe accident or issue, I'm sure there many others that don't make news in which a plane carries lithium ion batteries just fine, right, Bill?

SAVAGE: Yes, that's correct.

BALDWIN: What about -- I was talking to a pilot yesterday, because he actually was disagreeing with this, because he was wondering -- he tests a lot of these planes as they're new out of the factories. And he was saying to me that there is this sort of protective coating -- I don't know if coating is the right word within a cargo hold, and he was not sure if there was -- we don't know how many batteries, by the way. That hasn't been released.

But if there were some, I don't know, spark or smaller explosion within a cargo hold from these batteries -- and this is to either of you -- if that protective casing within the cargo hold would have held.

(CROSSTALK) BALDWIN: Bill, go ahead.

SAVAGE: It probably is not -- it's definitely not an armored container or a cargo hold.

There are side linings on that cargo hold of composite or plastic material that probably are not highly flammable. It's not unheard of that there is a fire in the hold and depending on which hold it is on this 777, there is fire suppression in some of the cargo holds on that aircraft.

BALDWIN: What about -- Ric, to you and then, Bill, to you -- we are hearing reports that the pilot used his cell phone eight minutes before this plane took off and made a phone call. We don't know who he was calling. We don't know the nature of the call, but is the fact that a pilot hops on his cell phone as his plane is about to take off, is that OK or not, Ric?

GILLESPIE: Well, I would certainly want to know who he was calling and what he was saying, but under normal circumstances, I don't see anything unusual about it.

BALDWIN: Bill, would you do that?

GILLESPIE: Maybe he wanted to call home?

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Bill?

SAVAGE: Yes. More and more, it's becoming a normal usage for pilots getting very near the pushback phase if they have to talk to -- or dispatch department, duty officers, or crew scheduling or even a late- night goodbye to a wife or children or whatever, eight minutes is time enough to do something.

Your preparations are finished by that time, and you are just kind of waiting for the pushback time for everybody else on the airplane to get done with their jobs. And that's kind of a downtime for the pilots. We are fully prepared. And that would allow you a little time on the phone to make a personal call or even to call inside to the company to clarify some issue.

BALDWIN: To both of you, because you have been reading and have been analyzing for days and days, now that you are armed with a fair amount of information that were lacking quite a bit in the story, Ric and then Bill, what is your one piece of the puzzle that you really would like to see that would help explain the greater mosaic of the story?

GILLESPIE: I would like to know what else is in that cargo hold. I would like to see a complete manifest of not only passenger luggage, but airplanes carry cargo.

And, increasingly, if the crew is complicit in this or if there is somebody who managed to take over the aircraft, hostages don't seem to be the point. Hostages don't do you any good if nobody knows you have them. Is there something aboard the airplane that is of immense value to someone? I want to know what is in the cargo hold.

BALDWIN: OK, cargo hold.

Bill, what do you want to know?

SAVAGE: I want to hear the rest of the tape from pushback to the last communication. And I would like to know why several of the air forces in the area didn't respond to the ADIS (ph) violations after the airplane turned.

And I would like to know who was in possession of the passports that were stolen. Those seem to be the individuals that potentially could have interdicted the cockpit and created a hijacking, if that's what happened.

BALDWIN: We may be able to begin to answer one of those three, being that transcript, as we are still watching and waiting to get that again, the British newspaper "The Telegraph" claiming they have the 54-minute transcript between push-off and "All right, good night" at 1:19 in the morning.

Stay right where you are for that. Also, gentlemen, if you will, stay right where you are, because we have a lot of viewer questions. We will get to those in just a moment.

But let me turn and just to this emotional story. One husband of a passenger says he is not listening to the news. He is not waiting on officials, but he is writing about his grief. His story is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Now to the heart of why you care and why I care. So much about this story here, this missing plane, it's not for the unknown, it's not for the unprecedented nature of this global search here.

No, this is about the 239 people who have not seen, hugged, talked to their kids, their soul mates, their partners, family, friends in two weeks.

And for the husband of one of these passengers, he gave CNN just this really personal glimpse of how his family's life has been now that it has been tragically interrupted.

His wife is Chandrika Sharma. She is from India. She was on this plane just heading to Mongolia for work. Sharma's wrote a note to his friends and family just to thank them for their personal support, and he in turn shared it with us here at CNN.com.

He wrote in part: "I remain focused on what we have at hand by way of information, and stay with the knowledge that Chandrika is strong and courageous," he goes, "that her goodness must count for something, somewhere."

And CNN Digital's Moni Basu spoke with Sharma's husband and she wrote this piece. She called it "On Man's Quiet Reckoning on Flight 370."

So, Moni, thank you so much for joining us on your vacation nonetheless. We really, really appreciate it.

When I was reading your piece, what really jumped out at me at first was the fact that, unlike any of these other families who are in either Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, holed up in these rooms, he said he no. He wanted to stay home, didn't want to hang on every word of these daily press briefings. Why?

MONI BASU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Brooke.

He chose to stay at home in the Indian city of Chennai, where he wanted to be surrounded by the people who loved him most, his daughter, his mother, his mother-in-law. He's a very quiet person. And what struck me by what he wrote was that quiet strength coming out in his words.

He wasn't crying or publicly showing his grief. He sat down at his home and penned this very, very poignant letter to let all his friends know how he has been managing this time.

BALDWIN: And that you found him, that you spoke with him on the phone, that he trusted you to share this very personal note with you and CNN and the world, will you do me a favor and read a little bit more of it for us?

BASU: Sure.

He wrote that: "For now, I remain open to news that point to clear, incontrovertible evidence of what happened, and actions taken or afoot that can bring the whole incident to a satisfactory close. What is a priority is information that is a step closer to bringing Chandrika back, and for us to plan our next steps to redesign our life from here on."

His daughter goes to college in Delhi. And she had come home to be with her father. And he went on to write that both he and his daughter are sort of reevaluating how they might rebuild a daily routine and manage their anxiety and longing for -- she for her mother and he for his wife.

BALDWIN: And, in the meantime, you write about in terms of him passing the time, he mentioned how he is really trying to stay in the present by meditating.

BASU: Yes.

He practices a very ancient form of meditation in India, and he has relied on that meditation to keep his calm. He told me he doesn't really believe in miracles. He wrote that miracles are a way of making sense of what apparently does not make sense.

And so he is very practical about the news that he finally may get one day soon. But at the same time, he said that living -- practicing the meditation and keeping calm is the way that he copes with his anxiety.

BALDWIN: And this is just one story, one face of the 239 different people on board that plane. Moni Basu, thank you so much.

And, please, we urge you to read Moni's full article. Go to CNN.com. It's called again "One Man's Quiet Reckoning" on our home page, CNN.com.

Coming up next, we will continue to answer your questions. And let me tell you, you have a lot of them. You have tweeted me, again, my Twitter handle, @BrookeBCNN. You are asking about submarines in the search. You're asking about the cockpit recordings, why we haven't heard more of this transcript yet.

And we have told you about the numerous resources all these countries, including the United States, are putting into this search. So, we will take a closer look at the equipment, the ships, the planes, the helicopters, and what challenges they face over these vast ocean seas.

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