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CNN Sunday Morning

Collision in Speedskating Event Alters Result

Aired February 17, 2002 - 08:02   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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: But first, the latest twists and turns of the Olympic games. "As the Games Turn," we might call it. Let's look at the result-altering collision on the ice that we're telling you about. Details on that and the recovery of American skater Apolo Ohno. For that we turn to CNN's Rusty Dornin from Salt Lake City.

Rusty, you know, there are headline writers all over the world who are rejoicing at this story because of the oh no factor.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh no...

O'BRIEN: Yeah, I mean it's too easy actually, isn't it?

DORNIN: It really is. And once again, skating is the headline here, and the twists and turns and the scandal last week. And this time it's the twists and turns of this rather spectacular crash on the ice in the 1,000 meter skating event, where Apolo Anton Ohno was in the lead coming into those final laps when he -- when the Chinese skater came up on the outside, and then on the inside came up the South Korean skater, sending three of them crashing over the ice. Apparently Apolo Ono was able to get up and get his foot over the finish line for a silver medal, but it was Steven Bradbury who came up from the last (ph) -- the Australian -- who was in last place, who ended up winning the gold medal.

Now the hope, of course, is that Ohno has not been seriously injured enough to prohibit him from competing in his other three events. Apparently he has six stitches in his inner thigh. So hopefully he'll be able to compete. Of course the other headline is that the Americans and the Russians tied in their skating event. It was the first time those two had tangled since the miracle on ice in 1980.

Now the background of this game all along -- and in the beginning, of course, we were talking a lot about security. It is something that has sort of gone into the background. You notice it when you go into the venues, you notice it when you go on the streets. And in the skies on patrol are the U.S. Customs helicopters and the F- 16s. Now last week -- and some F-16s did intercept a commercial airliner when there was some sort of threat reported, escorted it into Salt Lake City. I ended up flying with an F-16 pilot out of Hill (ph) Air Force Base, and got a chance to talk with him about what if.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Every day, the screech of their afterburners reminds Olympic visitors of what's at stake here. Outside Salt Lake, 48 F-16's, the 388 (ph) fighter wing at Hill (ph) Air Force Base, now part of NORAD's Olympic security. Duty: intercept, force to land, or if necessary, shoot down any planes that punch through the perimeter around the Olympic venues.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Forty-five nautical mile ring around Salt Lake is where we will be operating at.

DORNIN: A routine patrol briefing for pilots of the 34th fighter squadron. Lieutenant Colonel Rick Reynolds (ph), a veteran of war missions in Iraq and Kosovo, now he's protecting his own backyard.

(on camera): You have to scramble and you've got to go over very quickly. Do you -- how your inspection -- do you obviously cut that short? Do you depend on somebody else (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

LT. COLONEL RICK REYNOLDS: That is all three done.

DORNIN: It's all three done?

REYNOLDS: All three done.

DORNIN: OK.

REYNOLDS: So the airplanes are sitting alert, they're (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

DORNIN (voice-over): Ready to go, ready to intercept another plane. One that might be where it shouldn't.

REYNOLDS: How close do you get to them (ph) will depend on what we're trying to do.

DORNIN (on camera): You're just trying to check them out or...

REYNOLDS: Yeah, if we're trying to identify who it is, we'll get closer like in combat.

DORNIN (voice-over): Most patrols are routine. Sometimes even a little boring. But what if...

REYNOLDS: If they said, "Hey this airliner is on a vector towards Salt Lake City," and it's not supposed to be, your adrenaline is going to start pumping. And you're going, "OK, what am I going to do next?"

DORNIN (on camera): You're trained to fight the enemy. This is still a little different if something really did happen.

REYNOLDS: Well there's no doubt about that. I mean, let's not be kidding ourselves. Intercepting an airliner is not the same as another enemy fighter. It's a graduated kind of response. So we don't -- we're not just going to over (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and shoot somebody down.

DORNIN (on camera): If that time comes, are you going -- did you -- psychologically have to prepare a little differently for -- I mean are you ready to do that if that -- if that occasion arises?

REYNOLDS: Yes.

DORNIN (voice-over): There's been a handful of intercepts so far, all small planes that wandered into the wrong space. But there's a few jets here on 24-hour alert.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DORNIN: Now there's more than a half dozen pilots who are on this 24-hour alert. They have to scramble in less than 15 minutes out of their squadron into the planes and get into the air. Many of the pilots I spoke to said they claim they can do it in half that time. Of course, many of them home they continue to be benign intercepts and keeping their fingers crossed that nothing more serious happens -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Rusty, great job, first of all. I had a chance right after 9-11 to go up with the Otis (ph) International Guard guys, F- 15s, and we flew over New York City over ground zero and we were in formation with some F-16s and they were just bristling with these missiles, heat-seeking and radar (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And it really struck me then how serious it is to see a fully-loaded fighter over these areas. Did you have any impressions like that?

DORNIN: Well, definitely. I mean these pilots are very aware of it, as you might have heard when I was speaking to the pilot I was flying with. You know, this is something -- they're used to fighting an enemy. You know, a real enemy psychologically, that's very different than flying in your own backyard and thinking about the fact there's a possibility that you might have to shoot down a private or commercial plane. But these guys have dealt with it; their superior officers have talked to them about it. But it's something, of course, that's always on their minds.

O'BRIEN: All right. And on a personal note, did you pull 9 Gs? And, if so, did everything stay with you?

DORNIN: No -- no, I didn't get sick. I didn't get sick and I pulled 7.2 Gs. That was the most the pilots said we could do because of all the armaments that were on the plane.

O'BRIEN: Yeah, you don't want to...

DORNIN: It was a lot -- it was a lot of fun, but it also gives you a lot of respect for what incredible shape these guys are in to be able to do that everyday. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) exhausted.

O'BRIEN: I got a bad case of whiplash once flying with the Thunderbirds, and walked off the plane like this, "I'm fine. No problem." You know, the guy was like, "What's your problem?" Anyway, Rusty Dornin... DORNIN: That's because you've got to be a little macho like the pilots, right Miles?

O'BRIEN: I wasn't going to let on. Hopefully he's not up this morning. Anyway, Rusty Dornin, thanks very much. Nice work.

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