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American Morning

Eyewitness Describes Statue of Liberty Stunt

Aired August 23, 2001 - 11:20   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.
STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: And now we're going to talk about what happened in New York City today.

We're looking at something else here now. But, in New York, there was a French parasailor or power-glider who was making his way from New Jersey to the Statue of Liberty, where we are told he was going to land on top of the balcony, which is a part of the torch of the Statue of Liberty, and then Bungee jump off, repeating a stunt that he has performed earlier on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, on the Golden Gate Bridge, and which he apparently either attempted or checked out back in November, when he flew around in this contraption, which is a parachute with a motorized backpack attached that gives him some control over his mobility.

And, of course, he snagged his parachute on the flames of the torch and then was pulled to safety, after dangling there for an extended time, after rescue workers were called to the scene. He is identified as Thierry Devaux, a French parasailor and stuntman and daredevil, who apparently was OK after being stuck for about half an hour.

And now to give us some sense of what that was like as it was unfolding on the statue itself is a tour guide, John Keatts, who is on the telephone now and who can give us some sense of what he saw.

Mr. Keatts, thanks for joining us.

JOHN KEATTS, TOUR GUIDE: Good morning, Stephen. Thanks for having me on.

FRAZIER: So what was it like? I know your attention is on your guests, the people you are guiding around, when suddenly it's diverted by what?

KEATTS: Well, as we were approaching the statue from Ellis Island, my back is to it. I know what is coming, except what I saw in front of me, the passengers, about 130 of them, many of them getting up, kind of excited, pointing, shouting.

So I turned around and here is this red parachute draped on one side of the flame, with the man hanging by the strings on the other side.

FRAZIER: So let me back up a little bit. You're approaching by boat.

KEATTS: We're approaching by boat, yes -- a tour boat. We approach within about 30 yards or so of the statue, normally.

FRAZIER: Wow, good, close view, then.

KEATTS: Absolutely. And he had just evidently landed. The police choppers were already, a few of them, over -- the rest of them on their way. Fire boats and police boats were heading towards it. And what started here as kind of amusement or amazement turned to concern: Is this terrorism? Is there going to be a bomb? Is there going to be an explosion? What in the world is going on?

So it was a little frantic for a while. And as we turned away from it, more units from police and fire were arriving. And as we pulled away: status quo -- people had been evacuated from the island by that time. All of the tourists -- a big boatload of tourists had been evacuated. And the situation remained the same. No one knew what would happen.

FRAZIER: Well, you know, that adds a darker edge to this that we weren't feeling as we watched: the concern that perhaps there would be a bomb. I didn't realize people had been taken away.

KEATTS: Yes. Yes, the whole island appeared to be evacuated. We know the fellows that run the boats. And they came in, took everybody off the island. Police, fire were arriving. But a concern was: What would happen? Would there be an explosion? What was going on?

FRAZIER: Well, now that you know that this was a benign kind of a stunt, what is the reaction of the tourists to what is going to happen now to Thierry Devaux? As you recall, there have been events like this earlier in New York. And sooner or later, they end up dropping the charges.

KEATTS: Yes, Stephen, it has returned to the original, which was more amusement and amazement than anything else now that it is clear that it was not a bomb. But we did not know that then. We didn't know what would happen. We could feel it, see it or whatever. But that was a concern, certainly. We were close enough that if anything had happened, we could take a brunt of it. So -- but that's all passed.

FRAZIER: We are glad you are all OK and that it was not the kind of terrorism that you suspected and feared.

KEATTS: Thank goodness.

FRAZIER: John Keatts, tour guide on a boat there, thank you very much for those insights into what happened today.

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