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CNN Live Saturday

Military Officials Plan Welcoming Ceremony for Returning Surveillance Plane Crew

Aired April 14, 2001 - 15:03   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.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: And as we've been reporting, the crew of 24 is flying home at this hour. Thousands are gathering on Whidbey island in Washington to welcome the Navy crew, and CNN's Frank Buckley is there too, and joins us with more. Hello, Frank.

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello Donna, we are at alt field at NAS Whidbey Island. And this is exactly where the C-9 aircraft, the military version of the DC-9, will be pulling up at approximately 4:00 p.m. local time, 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

I wanted to give you a sense of what is going to happen when the crew does arrive. They are going to pull up right there in the shadow of that EP-3 aircraft, which is the sister ship and exactly the same airplane that the crew was flying when they went down on Hainan island. The plane that they are in now, the C-9, will pull up at this location. Then they will come out of the plane, and the first part of the homecoming ceremony will take place right there on the tarmac.

They will be greeted by friends and family members. U.S. military officials have done everything they can to bring in family members from across the U.S. to make sure that every single crewman and crewwoman who alights from that plane is greeted by someone who is a loved one. They will then walk from that location -- and it will probably take about 45 minutes of that -- they will walk into hangar six here, where they will walk up that red carpet that you see, and they'll walk to the front of this hangar six, where there will be a formal ceremony that takes place.

Some 10,000 people are expected here, at least five to 10,000 people. They've set up for a total of 10,000 people. Speeches from dignitaries and military officials will take place. We are not expecting to hear from the air crew at this location. They may speak afterward. But during the formal ceremony, they are not expected to speak.

Then, the members of this air crew are going to be permitted to go on leave for up to 30 days. But we are having some indication, from at least some of the crew members, that they might want to return to work before that, and the military officials will be encouraging that. Lieutenant Shane Osborn, apparently telling his wing commander over the last couple of days on the phone, that he is concerned about getting his minimum number of approaches, takeoffs, landings that he needs to maintain his flight status. So, that wing commander saying that apparently, he wants to get back up into the air -- Donna.

KELLEY: All right, Frank Buckley, thanks very much.

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