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Florida Plane Crash

Aired June 12, 2006 - 13:31   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Following a number of stories for you right now. First out of Oklahoma, this is Glenn Pool, Oklahoma. An apparent lightning strike has ignited this fire. It's actually a storage tank at a petroleum farm just south of Tulsa. Firefighters from Glenn Pool are on the scene. You can see the black smoke that's been rising from this farm in Glenn Pool, near U.S. Highway 75 for more than an hour now. The fire appears to be in the same area where a tank exploded after a static electricity ignited fumes back in April 2003. Not the first time this area has seen this type of explosion. They are concerned about an environmental threat, definitely an air- quality threat. the people in and around this area. We're staying on top of this story.
Another developing story that we're following for you is out of Davis Island, Florida. This has also happened within the last hour. These pictures coming to us via our affiliate WTVT. This is Davis Island, Florida. A private plane launched from the airport, Peter O'Knight Airport, there in Davis, Florida, and it's according to Tampa Police. This has never happened before, which is pretty amazing. This subdivision, these homes where people live, it's right at the end of the runway. You'll see it in just a second here, that there's the neighborhood. You've got the runway right there at the tip, and then it's a little island that floats right into the water. There you go.

Now you can kind of see a visual of that neighborhood. So that plane was trying to take off, but the bad weather, according to Tampa police, caused this small plane crash before it even got the leave the island. We're told that one person is dead, two people are injured.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is in a Pittsburgh hospital after a motorcycle crash. Doctors say that his condition is serious, but stable.

Now earlier, he was described as alert and conscious. CNN affiliate WTAE reports that Roethlisberger was tossed over the handlebars, hit a vehicle's windshield, and landed on the ground. The accident happened this morning near Pittsburgh's 10th Street Bridge. "The Pittsburgh Tribune" reports that Roethlisberger was riding without a helmet. Roethlisberer led the Stealers to the Super Bowl title in February. We're watching this story closely. We'll update you again as soon as we get more details.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

PHILLIPS: We're going to take a quick break. More LIVE FROM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We're getting new developments now on that plane crash in Davis Island, Florida. Kathleen Koch, working the story for us. Kathleen, we're getting word now that it was a Beech 90 turboprop. Is that right?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's correct, Kyra. That's what we're hearing. I just got off the phone with FAA spokesperson Laura Brown, and she gave me all the information that the FAA has at this point. And it is a little bit sketchy. Right now, they don't know if that plane was taking off or landing from the airport at Tampa, but she did say that it crashed between 12:30 and 12:40 this afternoon into a home there.

Now, what the FAA understands is that on the ground, someone has spoken with the occupant of the home, a woman who apparently is all right. However, they understand that there is one fatality and what she says is one serious injury right now from the crash that the FAA at this point assumes were -- is the two people who were on board the aircraft -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So they think that there has been one survivor from the crash? Two people on board, one dead, and possibly one survived it?

KOCH: Apparently so. Actually, Kyra, you know, the odds are in your favor in a plane crash, believe it or not. Very high percentage of the time, roughly 80 percent of the time, plane crashes are survivable. So apparently one person has survived with serious injuries, one person killed.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll stay on top of it. Thanks so much.

KOCH: You bet.

PHILLIPS: And we have been talking with Laura McElroy (ph) with Tampa Police and also our Chad Myers about the weather conditions there in Davis, Florida. We've been tracking, of course, Alberto throughout the state, but definitely the police blaming that bad weather on that plane crash. We'll have more information on that and also tracking Alberto right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: OK, well, we're following Tropical Storm Alberto, as you know. A small plane crash near the Gulf of Florida. Plus an oil tanker explosion in Oklahoma. LIVE FROM brings you the latest developments on all those stories in just a moment.

And later, can you imagine having the same job for 47 years? Robert Byrd can. The West Virginia senator reached a milestone today. We're going to tell you about it, when LIVE FROM continues. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: OK. You're all right. Usually Richard Roth is at the U.N. talking about countries from all over the world. This time he's -- it's a multinational type of story, right, Richard, but it's the World Cup. We're not talking the U.N. today.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, 32 teams in this World Cup. Very bad defeat for the U.S. team in the opening match of this tournament. With me is Steve Jolly who plays for the New York Red Bulls, America's professional soccer league. How do you explain this heavy defeat?

STEVE JOLLEY: It's disappointing, I'm sure all the players are very disappointed. We came out flat. They did an exceptional job, took advantage of our mistakes, and they won 3-0. We sit back and pray for a tie between Italy and Ghana and we come out in a couple of days and win game.

ROTH: The Czech Republic is a very good team, but the U.S. was really tipped to be a little more better, right?

JOLLEY: I don't know about better. There's an experienced team, they're an older team, and they did exactly what they need to do. They scored their goal early, they sat back, and took advantage of their opportunity. Something we didn't necessarily do.

ROTH: The U.S. now, must they beat Italy? They have to play Italy and Ghana, the top two teams from this group, for those who may not be familiar with this, to get out of this and get to the next round, but do they have to beat Italy, one of the best teams in the world?

JOLLEY: It comes down to winning the next two games. There have been opportunities where you win a game and tie a game, but when the goal differential is three goals like it is today, I think you pretty much have to go out and win the next two games.

ROTH: Steve, thank you. Basically the mood here, people started filing out after the Czech Republic made it 3-0. It was A quick goal in the fifth minute that was really crushing and set the tone here at a location The Stout (ph) Bar and Restaurant. The defense of the U.S. is not exactly stout here on the west side of Manhattan. Back to you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Thank you, Richard. We'll follow everything happening with the World Cup.

Eight terms, 47 years, 17, 327 days, he's never lost an election and plans to keep that streak alive in November. Already as of today West Virginia Democrat Robert Byrd is the longest serving U.S. senator in U.S. history. He sat down with CNN's Dana Bash for his only interview marking the occasion

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Reporter: How does the longest-serving senator in U.S. history celebrate his milestone?

SEN. ROBERT BYRD (D), WEST VIRGINIA: I'm going to run again.

BASH: How else? After nearly a half century in the Senate, plotting to win reelection in November.

BYRD: I may be an old man in years, that's all right. So was Moses quite an old man, I suppose.

BASH: Robert C. Byrd is 88, to be exact. The son of a coal miner, he served six years in the House and then moved to the Senate in 1959 and became a master of its arcane rules. His longest filibuster, 1964, 14 hours and 13 minutes, against the Civil Rights Act.

(on camera): Is that something you regret now?

BYRD: I do regret my vote against the 1964 Civil Rights Act. And it was that southern atmosphere in which I grew up and with all of its prejudices and its feelings.

BASH (voice-over): Those prejudices led to what he calls his albatross, briefly joining the Ku Klux Klan.

BYRD: I've never hesitated to say that was the greatest mistake of my life. It will always be there. And it will be in my obituary.

BASH: He spent more than 50 years steering project after project to his impoverished state. His nickname, "King of Pork."

(on camera): You wear that as a badge of honor don't you?

BYRD: I do. My memory is as good as it ever was. And it's stock full of recollections about the poor people of West Virginia, how they were laughed at. They were a laughingstock, yes. I'm a hillbilly, proud of it.

BASH (voice-over): A hillbilly turned passionate orator.

BYRD: The freedom flag will bear no stain...

BASH: A self-educated man who peppers his speeches with poetry and the classics, know to wave the Constitution he keeps in his breast pocket. Eleven presidents have now heard his reminder that the legislative branch is mentioned first.

BYRD: I am a champion of the Constitution.

BASH: His Capitol office is a museum. He points to this 2002 tally sheet, recording his vote against the Iraq war.

BASH: Of all of the 17,000-plus votes that you cast...

BYRD: ... is the greatest vote I ever cast.

I'm ashamed that the Senate on that occasion shifted its power to declare war to one man.

BASH: He's not just a senator, but the embodiment and enforcer of its storied traditions. Even wrote four books on its history.

So what will history say about Robert C. Byrd?

BYRD: The chapter isn't written yet, the last chapter. And there may be several chapters ahead.

BASH: Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Still to come, Alberto moves in and the CNN crews head out. We're live along the Florida coastline where we're tracking the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. And a crash on Davis Island, Florida. Second hour of LIVE FROM starts in just two minutes.

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