Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Sunday
Commuter Airliner Crashes in Kentucky; Hurricane Ernesto Weakens; Fox Journalists Released
Aired August 27, 2006 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Our top story, the commuter jet that crashed today in Kentucky apparently took off from the wrong runway. 49 people were killed, but someone did survive. CNN sources say radar indicates the plane took off from the shorter of the two runways before it crashed. Complete coverage coming up in one minute.
And Ernesto this hour is downgraded to a tropical storm again, but the Florida Keys are under a hurricane watch in the expectation that Ernesto is going to regain strength. Our Jacqui Jeras has more in about 10 minutes.
And two FOX News employees are safe today after a two week hostage drama in Gaza. It's still unclear exactly who was holding correspondent Steve Centanni and cameraman Olaf Wiig, but we have a complete report coming up in just 20 minutes.
NASA checks possible lightning damage to space shuttle "Atlantis." This bolt hit the shuttle on Friday. "Atlantis" won't go up tomorrow and may be rolled to the hangar to keep it safe from tropical storm Ernesto. Those are the headlines and this is our top story.
In Lexington, Kentucky, a recovery mission now to remove the bodies from the wreckage of Comair flight 5191. This is what we know so far. The crash site is in a wooded area about a half-mile at the end of the runway. And the plane's flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder have been found and pulled from the wreckage.
The head of Comair say that he and his company are emotionally devastated by the crash.
Now federal investigators are on the scene this hour. It is still very early in the investigation, but our David Mattingly on the ground right now, a short distance from that crash site.
David, what can we expect throughout this evening? Are investigators going to be able to get into that wreckage, go through it?
DAVID MATTINGLY: Apparently, it is very accessible. Rescuers were able to get to the scene without too much trouble this morning, right soon after the crash itself.
So the investigators will be doing what they can to gather evidence at the scene. All of this going on while they are now attempting to remove the remains of the 49 victims who were on board that aircraft and perished in that crash.
We're told that the FBI is heading that up. It is going on right now and then the remains are being taken to a temporary morgue that has been set up in Frankfurt, Kentucky. That is some distance from here, where state coroners and the local coroners will be working together to identify the remains.
And of course, sources telling CNN no one actually sure why, but it appears that some tragic mistake was made this morning, when a plane attempted to take off, taking the wrong runway, a runway that was half the size of the one it was granted permission to use.
Instead, the plane tried to take off on the shorter runway and crashing about a half-mile from the airport in a wooded area. Witnesses say they heard a loud boom, saw a fireball after the plane hit the ground. But at this moment, the work for the airlines, Comair, is going toward helping the families and getting whatever they might need.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON BORNHORST, PRESIDENT, COMAIR: We are asking if there is any family members that we can bring from anyplace in the country or anyplace in the world, for that matter, and fly them into Lexington so they can be together, so they can deal with this as a family because this is obviously a very significant tragedy for all of us.
And certainly, the family members, my heart, my prayers, all my best wishes certainly go out to them. And that is the reason I want to be with them at this point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: And those all-important black boxes have been recovered. That will provide them with some valuable information as this investigation goes forward. Both the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder should yield some answers about what wrong turn this flight might have taken. Carol?
LIN: Dave, do you know how the airline actually handled loved ones who may have been at the airport as that plane took off? They had just said good-bye to their loved ones, virtually moments before. How did the airline handle the news? Because we've heard some complaints.
MATTINGLY: There have been some complaints. Family members, when they're involved in a situation like this, it's not just this plane crash but all of them, the one thing they demand most is information. And if they don't get that information as quickly and reliably as they want, then there are going to be complaints. And that's possibly what we're seeing going on here in Lexington
But over the last 10 years, ever since TWA flight 800 crashed in the Atlantic Ocean outside of New York, the industry has been working very hard to address the needs of families. In this particular situation, there are 1,200 volunteers within the Delta system that they've been pulling these volunteers from these care representatives, who will work with each of the individual families to provide them whatever material needs and try answer whatever questions they might have.
But as you said, there have been complaints. Some people probably not getting the information they want and when they want it.
LIN: All right, thanks very much, David Mattingly on the scene in Lexington, Kentucky.
Now CNN's Randi Kaye has more from Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, flight 5191's destination.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Flight 5191 was due to arrive here at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport at 7:18 a.m. We are now learning from the airport spokespeople that family members are not here. If they had been here, they would have been met by Red Cross who was here to serve them and also by care workers who both Delta and Comair had set up here at the airport, hoping to help these family members deal with this terrible tragedy.
But once again, we are learning that family members did not arrive here at Atlanta's airport.
Comair is certainly seeming to make the families of those killed a priority. The president of Comair Airlines saying, Don Bornhurst saying that the victims will be treated with respect. Also, when asked if he would be going out to the crash scene, he said his first priority is to visit with the families of those lost.
We did speak to the airport spokesperson, Sterling Payne. She told us that this crash has not disrupted any of the operations here at Atlanta's airport. No impact at all, in fact, on the operations.
She also said that many passengers on this jet were very likely connecting. This is a commuter jet of 50 seats with 50 passengers on board. Oftentimes it would come here to Atlanta's airport to connect to a larger jet. And passengers would go on from there.
We're still waiting for confirmation of the passenger list, the names on that list. We do now know that at least one passenger was here waiting for flight 5191 to board that plane, and then go on with it.
We want to give you an 800 number for families if they want to call and get some of their questions answered. That number is 1-800- 801-0088. Once again, 1-800-801-008.
From Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Randi Kaye, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE) LIN: We're also learning more about the people who were on board. We're not releasing any of the names until we have officially confirmed them, but local newspaper reports in Lexington include a couple who was leaving on their honeymoon on this flight.
Now in just a short time in Lexington, Kentucky, the NTSB is going to be holding a news conference. We are expecting to hear from Terry Williams, who is the NTSB spokesperson. You can see the room there filled with reporters, people getting ready for that press conference, preparing the microphones. As soon as that starts, we are going to bring it to you.
But right now, Bob Francis is -- the former vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, he is going to be joining me after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: A live picture now where the National Transportation Safety Board is going to be holding a news conference very shortly. You can see the room filled with reporters there. Lots of questions about what happened on this Comair flight, why the pilot may have taken the wrong runway.
49 people on board. One survivor. We are on the story. We're going to bring that news conference to you as soon as it happens. And I'm also going to be joined by the former NTSB vice chairman out of Washington D.C. very briefly. But in the meantime, we want to bring you up to speed on another one of our very big stories of the day.
ANNOUNCER: CNN, your hurricane headquarters.
LIN: Ernesto, it was just a short time ago, downgraded to a tropical storm. It had reached hurricane status, but the danger is not over yet. We also heard from the director of the National Hurricane Center, who said it would be a mistake to let your guard down.
Last hour, Max Mayfield warned us that the storm could be upgraded to a hurricane once again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAX MAYFIELD, DIR., NAT'L HURRICANE CENTER: It issued a hurricane watch for the entire Florida Keys, most beneath, down through the Tortugas.
The thinking there that the tropical storm force bands could be getting there as early as Tuesday morning. Some of those roads will go in the water when the winds get up that strong. And that will cut the evacuations off at that time.
No one can tell you with any certainty the intensity of the track, but it certainly looks like it's going to impact a significant portion of Florida before it's all over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: So in response right now, tourists are being ordered to evacuate the Keys. And Governor Jeb Bush has issued a state of emergency. Jacqui Jeras tracking this in our hurricane headquarters.
Jacqui, Max Mayfield knows that, you know, he said the danger not over yet.
JACQUI JERAS, METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely not. And part of the reason for that is there's still quite a few uncertainties. When we're still this far out, the margin of error is still pretty great, in fact can be a couple hundred of miles across in that forecast line.
Though, something we really need to be watching on both coasts of the Florida peninsula, as well as into the panhandle. We did see that weakening today. There, you can see it on the satellite imagery. And a little burst of convection has been happening here the last couple of hours, on the west side of the storm. So we'll have to watch this very closely over the next couple of hours, see if that trend continues, and see if we see some more intensification moving back into the picture.
But right now, the winds at 60 miles per hour. We've got to get back up to 74 for this to become a hurricane once again. And we think that will happen probably within the next 12 to 24 hours and become a hurricane before it reaches Cuba. That should be happening sometime tomorrow morning or early afternoon perhaps.
It's expected to continue on a northwesterly track, ahead toward the west coast of Florida, and then be turning on in. But there are some uncertainties here. We have what we call an upper level trough, basically a storm system, that's pulling out of the Rockies. It's going to be pulling into the nation's mid section. And that's what's going to help guide this up to the north and then take the northeasterly turn.
Some of the models are picking up some weaknesses in that trough, that maybe it's not going to be as strong as what we once thought. And so, there's a lot of uncertainty on the timing of this and the intensity on this.
I want to show you something over here. These are the computer model forecasts that we have from rightweather.com. Basically, the National Hurricane Center plots these points out and rightweather draws them on a map for you.
Here's the center where Ernesto is right now. And you can see, the models are very, very close together here at the beginning of the forecast period. But once we get out in time, look how they just diverge like this. So still not sure exactly where this is going, but the consensus pulling it over here into the Eastern gulf.
Well, my concern is, is what happens if it gets over in this area? I want to bring you over to another map that shows you what we call the Gulf loop current. And what this is is this is a body of some very warm water in the Gulf of Mexico. If you remember, Katrina moved over this Gulf loop current and intensified very dramatically.
Should it get over here, we could still be looking at possibly a major hurricane. But right now, model's bringing it over here. So that's good. That would be more of a Category 1 or 2 at landfall. We'll keep you up-to-date. Carol?
LIN: All right, thanks very much, Jacqui.
So let's see what's going on in New Orleans in preparation for what may be a possible hurricane there. Susan Roesgen standing by. Susan, so far, it looks like the current track is heading towards Florida, but you never know.
SUSAN ROESGEN, GULF COAST CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you never do know, Carol. We have been through this drill before. And as Jacqui mentioned, if Ernesto changes course, as Katrina did, even as a tropical storm, Carol, then this city could be in trouble.
In fact, noon tomorrow is the critical time here in New Orleans. At noon is when emergency managers say that they would have to begin preparing for possible evacuations in this city, if Ernesto does change course. New Orleans Emergency Chief Colonel Terry Ebert says this city is just nowhere near ready for another hit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COL. TERRY EBERT, EMERGENCY CHIEF: I'm worried, but not about this city's ability to get people out of harm's way. I'm worried that we have infrastructure shortfalls that still impact the city if we were to take a major strike.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: And really, the last thing anyone needs here now is another major strike. Even a powerful tropical storm, again, would be really devastating for this city. And so many people still, Carol, are just trying to clean up after Hurricane Katrina.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm being very optimistic. I'm not even thinking about it, to be honest. It's too far away. Too far away. It's too far in the Gulf.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If it comes, we'll deal with it. But for now, we're continuing with the fix-up process. And it's been a long time coming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: Well, President Bush will be here tomorrow night in preparation for the anniversary on Tuesday. He'll attend a lot of anniversary memorial services here in New Orleans. But I got to tell you, Carol, a lot of people here will be just glad to get to Wednesday, to get the Katrina anniversary behind us and try to move forward, Carol. LIN: You bet. And I think the president is going to get an earful, Susan. We'll see what happens.
ROESGEN: He probably will. Every time he comes, he does, Carol.
LIN: I don't think New Orleans people are very shy.
ROESGEN: No.
LIN: And certainly, they have a lot to say to the folks in Washington. You know, and when he goes to New Orleans, you know, he of course wants to highlight his dedication to rebuilding the region. But that's going to leave him completely open to his critics.
So we asked CNN's White House correspondent Ed Henry to give us a preview of that trip.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In advance of his 13th trip to the Gulf region since Katrina, President Bush has been trying to downplay expectations.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a time to recommit ourselves to helping them. But I also want people to remember that the one-year anniversary is just that, because it's going to require a long time to help these people rebuild.
HENRY: It's also taken a long time for the president to rebuild his political standing, battered so badly by the initial images of a commander in chief flying over the devastation, while human beings below endured horrific suffering.
CROWD: We want help!
HOWARD DEAN, DEMOCRATIC NAT'L CMTE. CHMN.: The response to Katrina was effectively the end of the presidency in the sense that people all of the sudden saw the small man behind the curtain.
HENRY: Which may help explain why the president so eagerly embraced Rockey Vaccarella, a rare Katrina victim, willing to sing his praises.
ROCKEY VACCARELLA: I wish you had another four years, man.
HENRY: The White House perhaps hoping that would counter the high profile blunder.
BUSH: And Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job.
HENRY: Former FEMA director Michael Brown is admitting mistakes, but also, lashing out at the president.
MICHAEL BROWN, FORMER FEMA DIRECTOR: It was a failure at all levels. And someone had to take the fall. And so clearly I was chosen to be that happy scapegoat. HENRY: Rather than fire back, Bush officials say they're focused on the future, namely whether or not the federal government can handle another catastrophe. The urgent question at hand, with hurricane Ernesto barreling toward the United States.
DAVID PAULISON, FEMA DIRECTOR: We have prepositioned a lot of supplies and people. Regardless, regardless of where a storm hits, whether it's in the Gulf coast, whether it's in Florida, or up and down the East coast, we're ready to move.
HENRY (on camera): Only time will tell whether such predictions prove accurate. Michael Brown says one lesson he learned is that FEMA should be returned to an independent agency, a move President Bush has rejected so far.
Ed Henry, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: And right now, live to Lexington Kentucky there, preparing for a news conference with the NTSB, the National Transportation Safety Board. Investigators on the ground will be investigating through the night, as we heard from David Mattingly. They'll have enough light and resources there to start plucking through that rubble of Comair flight 5191.
Right there, perhaps you may be looking at some of those investigators and even some of the first responders there. There were 47 passengers and three crew members on that flight that took off shortly after 6:00 a.m. And by early reports, it sounds like the pilot, for some reason, took the wrong runway, a runway that was too short to accommodate that commuter flight.
We're expecting to hear from Terry Williams. He's the National Transportation Safety Board press spokesperson. And in a short time, I'll also be talking with the vice chairman -- former vice chairman of the NTSB about what is being said at this news conference. Let's listen in to Terry Williams.
TERRY WILLIAMS, NTSB SPOKESMAN: We'll brief you on what we know thus far. This will be a NTSB briefing that will be conducted only by NTSB at this point. And we'll be doing future briefings throughout the week. Thank you.
DEBBIE HERSMAN, NTSB: Good evening. I am Debby Hersman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board. I'm accompanied by Mr. Joe Sedor, our investigator in charge.
First, I would like to begin by offering condolences on behalf of all of the NTSB, to those who lost loved ones in Comair flight 5191. And we'd like to wish our speedy recovery to the one survivor that remains in critical condition in the hospital.
For those of you who are not familiar with the NTSB, we are charged with investigating accidents, determining the probable cause, and making recommendations to ensure that they don't occur again. That's why we're here today.
We were notified shortly after the accident this morning. We put together a go team of nine investigators and launched our team from Washington, D.C. They arrived at about noon today.
We will be joined by approximately 11 to 15 additional NTSB employees throughout the course of the day.
As you all know, much information about this accident flight already. Comair flight 5191 departed Lexington en route to Atlanta. The end number or tail number of the aircraft is 431-CA. And it was a CRJ-100.
The manifest revealed 47 passengers and three crew members. We were able to obtain both the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder. We were able to get these two items, take them back to our lab. They arrived in Washington, D.C. at about 2:00 p.m. today.
We've had an opportunity to review them preliminarily. We have some limited information. Our preliminary readout from the cockpit voice recorder revealed that there were 32 minutes of good recording. So we have 32 minutes of voice recordings from the cockpit.
The flight data recorder revealed several hundred usable parameters of information. We're continuing to look at those. We'll be forming groups tonight. And we'll be doing more information -- downloading more information tomorrow morning.
The initial documentation and the evidence on scene, we have ground scars at the end of runway 2-6, as well as some preliminary information from the flight data recorder that showed that the aircraft was lined up on a -- heading 2-6 on takeoff.
I'd like to express our appreciation to that very, very dedicated and well-represented local, state and federal agencies and officials. Without their assistance on scene, we would not have been able to do the work that we've done today. And we will be here for several more days doing work. We will rely on their assistance.
As you all know, the coroner's office is on scene now. And that is our first priority. We will hold an organizational meeting this evening at 7:00. Our organizational meeting is to put together all of the teams that will be looking at different facets of this accident. We will be establishing different parties to the investigation, those with interests and expertise that can bring something to the investigation. That will occur at 7:00.
I apologize for the delay in holding this briefing. We wanted to have the opportunity to brief the family members first. We've just come from briefing some of the family members.
We will have additional briefings. Our press office will post those. And we will provide you advanced notice. We will not speculate. We will only share information that we know to be factual. So as information becomes available, we will share it with you. We will notify you about additional briefings. And I'm ready to answer any questions you might have.
QUESTION: Ma'am, what are the scar marks on 2-6? Describe what you mean by them and how should we interpret them if at all?
HERSMAN: Our team is on the scene. They're at the accident scene and they're documenting what they see. They're taking photographs. We're working with local agencies to do some exact location.
We are looking at the runway. We're looking at all of the area that is in the vicinity of the accident. We're documenting all of that. If we see any information that would show us the trajectory of the aircraft, what might have been happening, that's what we'll be taking note of. And that's what we'll be recording.
Our team has already been on scene. They have seen some information, firsthand, that does show them this aircraft that came off of runway 2-6.
QUESTION: Scar marks are skid marks? Would you liken them to skid marks?
HERSMAN: No, ground scars. There may be indentations in the ground. There may be marks. There may be areas that would be disturbed.
We don't have any specific information at this point in time. What I'm sharing with you now is about the extent of what I'm going to be able to share with you. We have only been on scene for a few hours. And we will only have preliminary information.
QUESTION: The aircraft was cleared to take off from runway 2-2, correct?
HERSMAN: The only information that we have been able to obtain thus far is in reference to runway 2-2.
QUESTION: What does that mean?
QUESTION: Can you tell me who was piloting the aircraft?
HERSMAN: We do not release the names of the crew or the passengers.
QUESTION: No, who was actually in control? Was it the pilot or the co-pilot taking off, controlling the plane?
HERSMAN: I do not have that information at this time. We're going to have to wait for a readout of the CVR and additional information to be recovered from the investigators.
QUESTION: What does the plane look like right now? Is it intact or is it...
HERSMAN: I've been on scene. And there are several hundred feet -- the debris field is about several hundred feet, extending from the end of the runway. And there are several large portions of the airplane. The tail is in one section and there are pieces of a wing in another area. The majority of the fuselage is in a separate area. It's a large debris field. And it's quite scattered.
QUESTION: I want to make sure that you didn't misspeak or I misheard. We're talking about runway 2-6 now, which is the shorter of the two runways. You said your information is about 2-2. We've all focused on runway 2-6. Did you misspeak or did I misunderstand?
HERSMAN: The evidence that we have from on scene that we have collected, and the information that we have that's preliminary from the flight data recorder, indicate that this aircraft was lined up and took off from runway 2-6.
QUESTION: Now the FAA had an order in effect this morning that the lights on that runway were supposed to be turned off. Do you know whether they were?
HERSMAN: I cannot comment on that at this time.
QUESTION: Did the plane ever leave the ground? Do you know?
HERSMAN: I cannot comment on that at this time.
QUESTION: But you're telling it was cleared to take off on runway 2-2, just so...
HERSMAN: The information that we have from the various sources that we've been able to get thus far, it's not complete, we have additional work that we need to do. We have additional tapes that we need to pull. The information that we have indicates that there was only reference to runway 2-2.
QUESTION: What do you mean by that? Sorry, what do you mean by reference? That's very vague.
HERSMAN: I appreciate that it's very vague. Our information is not complete at this time. What I have been able to tell you is we do have some indications that there were references to runway 2-2. What I am telling you is that with the data and evidence that we have, is that this aircraft took off from runway 2-6.
QUESTION: Can you tell us where on runway 2-6, is (INAUDIBLE)? Was it at the end of the runway, at the beginning? Whereabouts?
HERSMAN: I don't have that information right now. I have not been able to talk to all the members of our team who are collecting this information. We will do that at our 7:00 meeting tonight.
QUESTION: The plane went through the perimeter and passed around the airport at all, did it impact the fence?
HERSMAN: My understanding it did go through the perimeter fence.
QUESTION: A witness had reported hearing an explosion and seeing a fire. What can you tell us about that? HERSMAN: I can't tell you anything about that right now. Our team will be looking at this. Clearly there was a fire on scene. And that's not unusual for an aircraft that is involved in a crash with fuel on takeoff.
QUESTION: Does any of the data from the two recorders seem to indicate preliminarily that there was confusion about which runway should have been used at all?
HERSMAN: We're still working on determining what was going on in the cockpit, what information was discussed between air traffic controllers and the pilots. We are going to look at that. That's part of our investigation. And we hope to have more information about that later.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)?
HERSMAN: I don't know the answer to that question.
QUESTION: What's the timetable for us getting this information from the flight data recorder and voice recorder?
HERSMAN: We're probably going to be putting our groups together tonight. And they will begin doing the transcription and downloading the data tomorrow.
QUESTION: The pilots on this flight, was this considered a high speed or a standup flight do you know?
HERSMAN: I do not know.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) did the plane have trouble taking off at all? What did they typically indicate?
QUESTION: Is it consistent with a low altitude stall?
HERSMAN: The scar marks are consistent with the aircraft impacting the ground.
QUESTION: If in fact this plane took off from runway 2-6, why is 2-6 the shorter of the two, since we talked about since early morning, was it, in fact, long enough to handle this aircraft?
HERSMAN: Runway 2-6 is the shorter of the two aircraft. We will be looking into perform -- we will be looking into performance data. We will be looking at the weight of the aircraft. We will be looking at speeds. We will pull all that information off and we will be looking at that. Our investigations are very thorough. We are going to be able to bring you more information. We've only been here for a few hours. We don't have a lot of information to share right now. What I've shared with you is what I have. We will have another press conference. Our press secretary, Terry Williams, will announce that. We'll give you plenty of notice and it will be back in this room when we schedule another one. Thank you very much.
TERRY WILLIAMS, NTSB SPOKESMAN: We don't know yet. We're going to have an organizational meeting at 7:00 tonight, and we're going to be forming parties as (INAUDIBLE) said. We don't know how long that meeting is going to go, so we don't know if we'll get back to you tonight. As she indicated earlier, we're at the start of this investigation and so we're trying to gather all of the parties together and gather as much information that has been gathered since this accident occurred this morning. So as soon as we know something, we'll get back with you and let you know when the next briefing will be. I'm not ruling it out, but I'm not saying that definitely we're going to have one. As soon as we know whether we are or aren't, we'll get back with you. But we're going to have a meeting at 7:00 this evening and that will determine how long that meeting goes when we put the parties together if we're going to have another briefing. D-e-b- b-i-e, H-e-r-s-m-a-n.
CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are listening to the end of the new conference, the first news conference by the National Transportation Safety Board, the agency in charge of investigating the cause of this plane crash. Some of the data there that they have some information from both the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder. Someone also who has been listening in on this news conference with me is Bob Francis. He is the former vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. Bob, you have some tremendous credentials. You were senior official on the TWA flight 800 crash investigation, also the Valuejet crash in the Florida everglades. In listening in here, why is it so complicated, if the plane, if there are scar marks on the ground, that the wreckage was found at the end of the shorter runway, why is it not conclusive enough for the NTSB to at least say that this plane probably too large a plane for a short runway took off on the wrong runway?
BOB FRANCIS, FMR NTSB VICE CHAIRMAN: Well, I don't think that they are, regardless of how apparent it may seem, and how logical it may seem. The key is that this part of the investigation, of any investigation, and you have to be consistent, is fact-finding. The significant thing to me was that the cockpit, the flight data recorder indicated that their heading was 2-6-0 when they were doing their takeoff role so that pretty conclusively indicates to me that they were on that runway.
LIN: But that also early reports indicated that they were instructed to take off on the correct runway, runway 2-2, which is the longer runway. So there was some kind of, is it fair to say there was some kind of breakdown in communication there?
FRANCIS: Well, not necessarily. I mean, they could have gotten that communication and that will be, that will probably be on the cockpit voice recorder. The controller would say, you're cleared to holding point for runway 2-2, and they would say, they would acknowledge that from the cockpit, but if you look at the layout of the airport, taxiing out basically to the south, you have to go by the entrance to runway 2-6 before you get to the entrance to runway 2-2.
LIN: So the pilot would have to pass the runway that it appears that he may have taken off on the wrong runway. He took an early turn in other words. FRANCIS: That's right. And the turn is about the same degrees, number of degrees. It's a similar kind of turn off the taxiway. It was raining, apparently. It was still dark and that would appear to be the most logical thing.
LIN: Are there markings on the runway that would indicate the turn, I mean, which one is 2-6, which one is 2-2?
FRANCIS: There are markings but again, if it's raining and dark, these markings are painted on the runways, and it may be that they would not see that, if the rain is driving in their face when it's dark.
LIN: Let's talk about some of the other evidence presented at this news conference. Debbie Hersman described a large debris field that the fuselage was in one piece and that there were several large portions of that aircraft. Does that indicate to you that there was at least some kind of lift or takeoff?
FRANCIS: That, they can tell by the markings that she made reference to, how far they went. It sounds like it got barely airborne and then came back down but there isn't really enough evidence yet to draw that conclusion. I can speculate; they cannot.
LIN: They cannot, 3,500 feet, this particular runway, runway 2- 6 that they took off. For this particular jet type, the CRJ-100, is that long enough a runway?
FRANCIS: No. I think, for a maximum weight takeoff, and I don't know whether they were at maximum, but they had a lot of passengers on there. So they would be somewhere approaching that. I think that it's above 5,000 feet, it's 5,200 feet, something like that.
LIN: So the pilot didn't have enough speed in order to take off?
FRANCIS: Correct.
LIN: OK. So when they actually examined these black boxes, is it a matter of just pushing a button and hearing the recordings so that they can analyze the conversation between the control tower and the cockpit or is it more complicated than that?
FRANCIS: Well, I assume that these are modern digital recorders. These are pretty modern airplanes. There used to be tapes and it was more complicated, but now with digital recorders, they really plug into them and they can read them out.
LIN: What about some other factors? I mean there is the possibility that the pilot took off on a runway that was too short. Is it possible that there was some kind of mechanical failure?
FRANCIS: I suppose that's possible, and that's certainly something that that's one of the reasons why the board does not start drawing conclusions until they have all the factual data in.
LIN: Um-hum. FRANCIS: You don't know what other things are, have taken place here.
LIN: Um-hum.
FRANCIS: And one of the things for me that will be interesting is, to take a look at the pilots, and particularly, what they've been doing in the last 48 hours, what was their flight and duty time, when did they -- is this their first flight of the day? When did they get up? How much sleep did they have? When did they last fly?
LIN: About six hours downtime is the estimate because apparently they flew in the night before and checked into their hotel after 10:00. This flight obviously scheduled to take off shortly after 6:00 a.m. So it seems that they didn't get eight hours or 10 hours, but may have gotten, say six hours of down time. Some reports say that that is enough, that's actually beyond what is required by law. Does that sound right to you?
FRANCIS: I don't know the specifics. I would just say that if they got there at 10:00, and they were taking off at 6:00, that's eight hours. They have to probably be at the airport a couple of hours before the flight to check in, check out the airplane, check their flight plan and everything. So that takes you back to 4:00, so there's six hours, assuming they get into their hotel and they don't take a shower and they don't brush their teeth. And they put their head down and go immediately to sleep, they'd get six hours. I doubt that's the case.
LIN: Is that within the legal limit though?
FRANCIS: I don't know the answer to that.
LIN: We'll try to find that out for our audience. In the meantime, what do you say about the safety of commuter flights? I know of people who actually make their flight plan based on the kind of airplane that they're going to take and I know people who won't even take these commuter jets. They have jet engines? They're not the prop planes, but people feel uneasy about them. What is your opinion about the safety of these planes?
FRANCIS: I would say to you that anyone that is getting on to a commuter flight this afternoon or this evening or tomorrow is getting on as safe a mode of transportation as there is, much safer than getting into your car. I mean it's an incredibly safe system that we have now.
LIN: Why do you say that?
FRANCIS: Because just look at the statistics and the number of accidents and the number of lives that are lost. You look at highways in this country. We lose 44,000 people a year, and there are years now that are going by when we don't lose any or we lose five in the air transportation system with thousands of flights every day.
LIN: It is sad to say that this crash probably marks the end of what has been called the safest period in aviation history here in the United States, not since what, 2001, American Airlines flight 587 crashed over the New York area, residential neighborhood in Queens, so I guess we just have to wait for this information to unfold and it sounds like to you that they have enough data to analyze the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder. She said 32 minutes of good recording time.
FRANCIS: Yeah, and 100 parameters. I mean that's good stuff. They got the recorders and they clearly are in good shape. And that's enormously valuable.
LIN: All right, so how soon can we expect those results then?
FRANCIS: Well, I think that they'll give you, again, they'll give you factual data out of the flight data recorder probably pretty quickly. The cockpit voice recorder is, because of privacy issues, is a little more sensitive, and I don't know when that would come out, but it will come out. The recording itself will never come out to the public.
LIN: OK.
FRANCIS: A transcript would come out sometime during the factual process.
LIN: Bob, I want to invite you to sit there for a moment with us, and I'm going to bring David Mattingly into this conversation. David, I hope you can hear me and also I'm talking with Bob Francis, the former NTSB vice chairman on this investigation. Feel free to ask him any questions if you have any from the scene there. But tell us what you know about what's happening on the ground.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What's happening on the ground right now, FBI teams are actually leading up the recovery of the victims' bodies at the crash site. They are being assisted by local fire, all of the remains being taken to a morgue that has been set up in Frankfurt, Kentucky, where the remains will be identified, so a very grim task going on right now as the investigation is getting to start. And I do have a question for Bob Francis. We were hearing 32 minutes of good voice recording. I'm curious to know, what will they be listening for when they listen to those 32 minutes?
FRANCIS: I think that the answer will be initially they will be very interested obviously in the exchanges between the ATC, the controllers and the aircraft. And then secondarily, they'll be interested in the conversation between the pilots in the cockpit as they were going down the runway.
MATTINGLY: Bob, based on what you know about the configuration of this airport, do you have any idea what the tower should have been saying to this aircraft, as it was preparing to take off?
FRANCIS: Well, they would have, I assume they would have cleared them out to the holding point for runway 2-2 and then generally the clearances as I understand it is Comair 15 -- whatever the number is, 1532, runway 2-2 position and hold or cleared for takeoff, one or the other.
MATTINGLY: So what we have right now is some good news in terms of an investigation into a very terrible event, Carol, We've got 32 minutes of good voice recording and what the NTSB describes as several hundred usable points of data on that cockpit or on that flight data recorder, one of them telling them that this flight took off apparently on the wrong runway.
LIN: Thanks very much, David Mattingly and also, Bob Francis, some more of our expertise here that we heard from one of our former security analysts that it is eight hours behind the door, so eight hours behind the door down time that is required by law for these pilots. So we'll see what the timetable and how that works out. Our thanks to Bob Francis, former NTSB vice chairman for his expertise and listening in to this NTSB news conference that we just heard a few moments ago. We are working the story, as well as several other big stories of the day. It is a busy news day folks. So stay with us, right here at CNN. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Another big story that we're following is the threat of Ernesto. About two hours ago, it was downgraded from a category one hurricane to a tropical storm, but Floridians are still worrying. For the latest we're going to go to meteorologist Jacqui Jeras at the CNN hurricane center. Jacqui, so people shouldn't rest on their laurels, that's the warning, right, for the Gulf coast region in Florida?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. They need to be on high alert actually because we may very well may be looking at a tropical system making landfall. It could be west coast. It could be east coast at this point. Still a little bit too early to be able to tell that. Right now our best estimate is showing that this storm has been weakening throughout the day today, but we think it's going to be gaining back into hurricane status in the next 12 to 24 hours. The maximum sustained winds right now are at 60 miles per hour. It's moving up to the north and the west.
A hurricane watch has been posted for the Florida Keys from Ocean Reef, extending all the way down to the dry Tortugas. That means that hurricane conditions are possible here within 36 hours. We're expecting the first impact of the storm to be moving into the keys probably by Tuesday morning, so those visitors that have been warned to evacuate need to do so right away. There you can see hurricane warnings have been issued for much of eastern Cuba and for parts of Haiti. The forecast track bringing it back up to a hurricane, moving toward the Gulf of Mexico on late Monday and into Tuesday, exactly where, look at that cone of uncertainly, Carol, covers the entire state. Back to you.
LIN: All right. There's a lot of wiggle room there still. Thanks very much, Jacqui.
It's been one year since hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf coast region and there is still no sign of comprehensive Federal funding to rebuild the coast. That is what Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu said would be her top priority when I talked to her last December. The Senate did pass a bill to expand offshore oil drilling there, a plan that could funnel an estimated $200 billion a year into rebuilding. But the president isn't on board so likely not to sign off on it. So I put those questions to the senator. What is she going to do next, now that another storm could enter the Gulf?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. MARY LANDRIEU, (D) LOUISIANA: I think as the cameras pan this whole region, I'm standing in St. Bernard Parish, a community of about 75,000 people right outside the city of New Orleans, that virtually is still devastated. Only about 20,000 people are back. And as the cameras pan, they will really tell the truth of this region, which as you can still today get in an automobile Carol, and ride for miles and miles and miles along the whole Gulf coast and see devastation. We've received a lot of money, but it's been stuck in Federal bureaucracies that just haven't worked. Behind me is first local grocery store, opened just this month in this whole parish. The good news is they got an SBA loan. The bad news is it's 9 percent and they had to pay $10,000 in fees. So the money has been sent but it's stuck in the Federal bureaucracy that hasn't worked and the people are really struggling to get back. We've got a lot of work to do.
LIN: I want to ask you about the money for rebuilding. Back in December, you and I talked about how Louisiana was going to be able to afford to rebuild and you talked about money that might be readily available. This was part of our conversation. Let's listen in.
LANDRIEU: We're not asking for a handout but a hand up and getting Carol, a dedicated stream of revenue. Our own money that we actually send here, through oil and gas revenues would be the beginning of really the opportunity for us to help ourselves in rebuilding.
Yes, Carol, we had asked originally for money to come directly to the local governments here. I mean we knew the magnitude of the catastrophe that we were dealing with and the quicker we got the money on the ground, the better. But the Federal government said no. They wanted to send the money through the traditional sources. That was a bad decision, because FEMA was not built to support a disaster like this and the other agencies were very slow to recognize the magnitude. That's not saying we haven't made progress and that's not saying we're not grateful for the help that we've gotten, but we need to spend the money more directly and then the second thing that you mentioned was the OCS, revenue sharing.
LIN: Senator, back in December, back in December, you and I actually talked about how Louisiana was going to get the money to rebuild. This is part of our conversation.
LANDRIEU: Literally based on what the Gulf coast produces which is in just royalties and severance taxes alone every year, is about $6 billion, estimated to go up to $8 billion. This money is not general fund money. This is money that comes out of offshore oil and gas revenue off the coast of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. So if we can get the Federal government to redirect some of that money, just like the interior states get, which you get to keep 50 percent of their revenues, based on drilling in their states on Federal land, we could get it done.
LIN: All right, because the governor back in February has said that the state is fighting for 50 percent of those revenues. So was that accomplished in the legislation that you proposed?
LANDRIEU: Listen, we'd be thrilled with 50 percent. That's what the interior states get right now under the minerals management. The interior states keep 50 percent of their money. But we're willing to negotiate whatever people think is fair. A minimum of 37.5 percent, we could build our levees, restore America's great wetlands and give the people of St. Bernard Parish, Orleans, Cameron, Vermillion, east Texas and Mississippi, the security we need that we can continue to live and function and prosper and contribute. That's the most important thing. This region contributes huge amounts of wealth for this nation so a little investment to us today will mean a great investment to the country in the future.
LIN: But wait a second. She hasn't achieved that goal yet. President Bush hasn't yet signed off on Senator Landrieu's plan for revenue sharing. How does she plan to get him on board and what does she say to Louisianans who still are waiting for help? The second part of my interview with Senator Landrieu coming up tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, 9:00 Central. We have a lot more coming up.
We need a light moment. We need something fun. Please stay with us, a couple minutes, be right back with something.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: We need a little break today. How about some glitz and glamour from Hollywood? Brooke Anderson is standing outside the Shrine auditorium in Los Angeles. It's the Emmy awards tonight, Brooke.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Carol, the 58th Emmy Awards, prime time Emmy awards and I'm joined here by Christopher Malone. He is a big nominee this evening. You're nominated for best actor in a drama series.
CHRISTOPHER MALONE: I thought it was actress. No, no, my mistake. Go ahead.
ANDERSON: This has to be a sense of validation for you. Sorry, there is a bee around me.
MALONE: I'm sweet as honey. Even the bees know.
ANDERSON: This is your first Emmy nomination for your performance in this series.
MALONE: Yeah, only took me seven years.
ANDERSON: How does that make you feel and why do you think people are so drawn to the show and to you, to Mariska Hargitay (ph) and (INAUDIBLE)?
MALONE: I think it starts with the writing. I think Neil Baier (ph), he's our head writer. He's very committed, dedicated guy and we all come back every year ready, not saying hey we did really good and we are really good. We always come back saying how can we tell the story a little differently. How are our personal characters? How are they evolving? We're constantly, we're very engaged.
MALONE: You're in good company in your category. You've got Keifer Sutherland, Martin Sheen.
MALONE: Yep.
ANDERSON: You've also got Dennis Leary. How does it feel to be here with those guys?
MALONE: I like all those guys. So it's an honor.
ANDERSON: Are you nervous at all?
MALONE: No I was, but having the release of just walking around, kicking around, chitchatting, kind of chilled me out.
ANDERSON: Chilled you out in this really hot weather here in southern California. And there we are with us, and you're doing a skit tonight?
MALONE. Yeah. But I'm sworn to secrecy but it will be funny. So stay tuned.
ANDERSON: Best of luck to you. Christopher Malone, the 58th annual prime time Emmy awards on NBC tonight. Carol, they'll be hosted by funny man Conan O'Brien.
LIN: All right. I think I know a little bit more about Christopher Malone than I care to right now, but he's so funny. He's so serious on the show.
ANDERSON: I know, right?
LIN: Look forward to your coverage tonight. I'm Carol Lin at the CNN center in Atlanta. Thank you so much for tuning in. Much more straight ahead. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
