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CNN Live At Daybreak

Investigators Focus on Tail Fin For Clues About Airplane Crash in Queens

Aired November 15, 2001 - 05:22   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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: In New York, federal air safety investigators say that they have found no evidence of sabotage in the crash of American Airlines Flight 587. A cockpit voice recorder offered no evidence of an explosion, but did indicate that the pilots complained about the turbulence of another aircraft just before the crash. The crash into a New York neighborhood killed all 260 people on board. Five people on the ground are missing and presumed dead.

CNN's Kathleen Koch now has the latest on the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The first up close look at New York's newest ground zero.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you have is you have three homes, one, two and three, and then a fourth. These three are demolished from the aircraft's impact.

KOCH: Impact was violent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, the nose of the aircraft, the forward section of the aircraft came down in this manner in this area.

KOCH: Investigators think they're coming closer to a possible cause, focusing on why Flight 587's tail fin fell off, landing in Jamaica Bay seconds before it crashed.

NTSB investigators at the crash site say a look at the tail section minus the fin shows metal mounts and bolts that hold the fin were still attached to the plane's body. But the graphite composite material, where the fin attached had been ripped apart. Investigators say repairs had been made to one of the mount fittings 13 years ago.

GEORGE BLACK, JR., NTSB BOARD MEMBER: The left center fitting was found to be delaminated. It was repaired by the manufacturer.

KOCH: The tail fin was discovered in almost new condition and showed no signs of being struck or broken off by another object. So American Airline mechanics are checking the tails of the 34 other Air Buses in its fleet.

Other possible causes? Turbulence from the wake of a larger Japanese airline 747 that took off before Flight 587. The planes ended up, at one point, just 85 seconds apart and investigators say a 12 mile per hour wind could have blown dangerous turbulence into the path of Flight 587.

MARION BLAKEY, NTSB CHAIRWOMAN: I think what you see in this pattern up here is consistent with wake turbulence. That is accurate.

JIM MCKENNA, AVIATION ANALYST: Well, I don't believe that the NTSB investigators are looking at a wake turbulence encounter as the cause of this crash. More likely they're looking at that as a possible contributor, a triggering event.

KOCH (on camera): One factor increasingly ruled out as a potential cause, the engines. A more careful listen to the cockpit voice recorder shows that they were still running and attached to the plane when the crew reported they were losing control of the aircraft.

Kathleen Koch, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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