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American Morning
Sabotage Danger
Aired October 02, 2002 - 09:03 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to turn our attention to another story that is getting a lot of attention at this hour. At Camp Lejeune in North Carolina this morning, the Marine Corps is reporting a case of sabotage that could have proven deadly.
For more on that, let's go to Barbara Starr, who is standing by at the Pentagon.
What happened. Good morning, Barbara?
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Paula.
Well, the Marines at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina this morning are very unsettled after discovering that 13 parachutes have had their lines apparently deliberately cut, and a criminal investigation is under way today.
Now all of this began on September 21st during a routine parachute training jump. Three Marines jumped out of a C-17. But their main parachutes remained attached to a line inside the plane, because the line had been cut that would have made those parachutes deploy out of the plane with them. Those three marines were forced to use their emergency reserve parachutes. They did land safely.
But now, agents from the Naval criminal investigative service have been looking at all of the parachutes at the base. They discovered 10 more parachutes with lines cut. And reason they believe that this is a deliberate act of criminal sabotage is the lines were cut in a very peculiar place. They were in a place that would not have been visible in a preflight inspection of the parachute packs.
So apparently, it's either a case of a maintenance and a equipment failure that they have never seen before, or it is criminal sabotage, and as I said, an investigation is now ongoing -- Paula.
ZAHN: Which two of those theories are they weighing more heavily at this hour?
STARR: Marines we have talked to at Camp Lejeune are cautious. They say they have never seen anything like this, and they believe this apparently must have been a deliberate act. They are so concerned, of course, that all parachute packs are being reinspected, relooked at, top to bottom, before any other parachute jumps are made.
ZAHN: And you described the unusual place they were cut. Were they all cut in the same place? STARR: Yes, as far as we can tell from the people we have spoken to, they were all cut in this very peculiar place that would have kept the parachute from going out of plane with the jumper. It's one of the static line jumps we have often seen on television. The parachute is attached to a line inside the plane. The parachutist jumps. The parachute goes out with him, but the line that would have pushed the chute out with the jumper was cut, and the parachute simply stayed inside the plane. The young Marines were forced to use their emergency chute. And we should say, when this happened, the jump master immediately figured out what was going on and called an immediate halt to that jump so there were no other injuries or incidents during that original incident before they discovered the additional chutes.
ZAHN: That may be the case. But it certainly has got to make a lot of Marines nervous.
STARR: Very unsettling for them.
ZAHN: OK, Barbara, thanks so much.
STARR: Thanks .
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 October 2, 2002 - 09:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to turn our attention to another story that is getting a lot of attention at this hour. At Camp Lejeune in North Carolina this morning, the Marine Corps is reporting a case of sabotage that could have proven deadly.
For more on that, let's go to Barbara Starr, who is standing by at the Pentagon.
What happened. Good morning, Barbara?
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Paula.
Well, the Marines at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina this morning are very unsettled after discovering that 13 parachutes have had their lines apparently deliberately cut, and a criminal investigation is under way today.
Now all of this began on September 21st during a routine parachute training jump. Three Marines jumped out of a C-17. But their main parachutes remained attached to a line inside the plane, because the line had been cut that would have made those parachutes deploy out of the plane with them. Those three marines were forced to use their emergency reserve parachutes. They did land safely.
But now, agents from the Naval criminal investigative service have been looking at all of the parachutes at the base. They discovered 10 more parachutes with lines cut. And reason they believe that this is a deliberate act of criminal sabotage is the lines were cut in a very peculiar place. They were in a place that would not have been visible in a preflight inspection of the parachute packs.
So apparently, it's either a case of a maintenance and a equipment failure that they have never seen before, or it is criminal sabotage, and as I said, an investigation is now ongoing -- Paula.
ZAHN: Which two of those theories are they weighing more heavily at this hour?
STARR: Marines we have talked to at Camp Lejeune are cautious. They say they have never seen anything like this, and they believe this apparently must have been a deliberate act. They are so concerned, of course, that all parachute packs are being reinspected, relooked at, top to bottom, before any other parachute jumps are made.
ZAHN: And you described the unusual place they were cut. Were they all cut in the same place? STARR: Yes, as far as we can tell from the people we have spoken to, they were all cut in this very peculiar place that would have kept the parachute from going out of plane with the jumper. It's one of the static line jumps we have often seen on television. The parachute is attached to a line inside the plane. The parachutist jumps. The parachute goes out with him, but the line that would have pushed the chute out with the jumper was cut, and the parachute simply stayed inside the plane. The young Marines were forced to use their emergency chute. And we should say, when this happened, the jump master immediately figured out what was going on and called an immediate halt to that jump so there were no other injuries or incidents during that original incident before they discovered the additional chutes.
ZAHN: That may be the case. But it certainly has got to make a lot of Marines nervous.
STARR: Very unsettling for them.
ZAHN: OK, Barbara, thanks so much.
STARR: Thanks .
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
