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Charlotte Commuter Crash

Aired January 08, 2003 - 13:27   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us now, former high official of the NTSB Peter Goelz.
Hi, Peter.

PETER GOELZ, FMR. NTSB MEMBER: Good morning -- good afternoon.

PHILLIPS: Good afternoon by now. It has been a long morning. Well, taking into account what Miles was saying in his assessment, what you've seen so far, the evidence that does exist, what do you think are some of the possibilities of what happened here?

GOELZ: Well, the key thing is going to be to get at the voice recorder and at the flight data recorder, as Miles said. In the voice recorder, you want to find out, first of all, who was flying the plane, and whether they went through the appropriate preflight checklist and whether everything was completed. It's not impossible. It's happened in the past. That occasionally a crew has been interrupted in the middle of their check list preparation and they've skipped something.

Secondly, as Miles indicated, once the event starts, you want to hear exactly what the crew diagnosed it as and how they responded. The flight data recorder, in this case, probably got upwards of 11 parameters, will tell you how the plane was performing and what it was doing, and what happened during the final couple of seconds.

The NTSB will recover those recorders probably tonight and get them back to their laboratories here in Washington D.C., and read them either first thing in the morning or sometime tomorrow.

PHILLIPS: And, Peter, reports are saying the plane couldn't maintain its altitude. Why is that? What are some of the possibilities?

GOELZ: Well, it could have been any number of reasons. If the flaps were not set to the appropriate degrees, and these are the flaps of the extensions off the back of the wing that give the wing greater lift, that would prevent the plane from gaining altitude. And, as Miles has speculated, if engine one had had some sort of failure, that could have also, if it came just as they were approaching or just getting past V1, which for this plane is about 110 knots. That could also be a very challenging event for a pilot.

PHILLIPS: And, Peter, we were told, this aircraft, six years old. What are the chances of mechanical failure with a 6-year-old aircraft? GOELZ: Well, in aircraft terms, it's a relatively young aircraft. You'd want to see how many cycles, how many landings and takeoffs it's had in its short life, but you've got to assume that this plane has been well maintained.

Starting in the mid '90s, these kinds of commuter airlines have operated under the very same maintenance and regulatory environment as the larger airlines, as the Continentals and the Northwests. So you have to assume that if everyone was doing their job, this plane was in good shape.

PHILLIPS: Peter, my final question, another top priority in a situation like this, not only the investigation into what happened, but you know, the priority of establishing efforts to support the families here of the victims. You've been to plenty of these crash sites. What's the next move with regard to that?

GOELZ: Well, the key issue is for the air carrier to reach out to their customers, to their families, to make the notification, and that's taking place right now. It's probably almost completed. There's a family assistance center that will be set up, both at the airport itself. And the airport announced that they had done that promptly after the accident. It will probably be set up at a hotel near the airport. The NTSB and the carrier will work together to see that those families that want to be at the site, that want to be there, will be well taken care of.

There have been tremendous advances in the past six years after the TWA flight 800 tragedy, and the carriers and the government actually work very well together in this very serious and very important task.

PHILLIPS: Peter Goelz, thanks for your time, sir.

GOELZ: Thank you.

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 8, 2003 - 13:27   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us now, former high official of the NTSB Peter Goelz.
Hi, Peter.

PETER GOELZ, FMR. NTSB MEMBER: Good morning -- good afternoon.

PHILLIPS: Good afternoon by now. It has been a long morning. Well, taking into account what Miles was saying in his assessment, what you've seen so far, the evidence that does exist, what do you think are some of the possibilities of what happened here?

GOELZ: Well, the key thing is going to be to get at the voice recorder and at the flight data recorder, as Miles said. In the voice recorder, you want to find out, first of all, who was flying the plane, and whether they went through the appropriate preflight checklist and whether everything was completed. It's not impossible. It's happened in the past. That occasionally a crew has been interrupted in the middle of their check list preparation and they've skipped something.

Secondly, as Miles indicated, once the event starts, you want to hear exactly what the crew diagnosed it as and how they responded. The flight data recorder, in this case, probably got upwards of 11 parameters, will tell you how the plane was performing and what it was doing, and what happened during the final couple of seconds.

The NTSB will recover those recorders probably tonight and get them back to their laboratories here in Washington D.C., and read them either first thing in the morning or sometime tomorrow.

PHILLIPS: And, Peter, reports are saying the plane couldn't maintain its altitude. Why is that? What are some of the possibilities?

GOELZ: Well, it could have been any number of reasons. If the flaps were not set to the appropriate degrees, and these are the flaps of the extensions off the back of the wing that give the wing greater lift, that would prevent the plane from gaining altitude. And, as Miles has speculated, if engine one had had some sort of failure, that could have also, if it came just as they were approaching or just getting past V1, which for this plane is about 110 knots. That could also be a very challenging event for a pilot.

PHILLIPS: And, Peter, we were told, this aircraft, six years old. What are the chances of mechanical failure with a 6-year-old aircraft? GOELZ: Well, in aircraft terms, it's a relatively young aircraft. You'd want to see how many cycles, how many landings and takeoffs it's had in its short life, but you've got to assume that this plane has been well maintained.

Starting in the mid '90s, these kinds of commuter airlines have operated under the very same maintenance and regulatory environment as the larger airlines, as the Continentals and the Northwests. So you have to assume that if everyone was doing their job, this plane was in good shape.

PHILLIPS: Peter, my final question, another top priority in a situation like this, not only the investigation into what happened, but you know, the priority of establishing efforts to support the families here of the victims. You've been to plenty of these crash sites. What's the next move with regard to that?

GOELZ: Well, the key issue is for the air carrier to reach out to their customers, to their families, to make the notification, and that's taking place right now. It's probably almost completed. There's a family assistance center that will be set up, both at the airport itself. And the airport announced that they had done that promptly after the accident. It will probably be set up at a hotel near the airport. The NTSB and the carrier will work together to see that those families that want to be at the site, that want to be there, will be well taken care of.

There have been tremendous advances in the past six years after the TWA flight 800 tragedy, and the carriers and the government actually work very well together in this very serious and very important task.

PHILLIPS: Peter Goelz, thanks for your time, sir.

GOELZ: Thank you.

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