A pole punctures the co-pilot's side of the plane  ALSO: Amid chaos of shattered plane, passengers aided in rescue Investigators look at weather's role in Arkansas crash INTERACTIVE Scenes from the crash aftermath Most recent U.S. crashes  MESSAGE BOARD: Air Safety American Airlines hot line: American Airlines has set up a hot line for people seeking information about the condition of passengers on Flight 1420: 1-800-245-0999 RELATED VIDEO CNN's Tony Clark reports on the crash investigation Windows Media 28K 80K 623 K / 6 sec. QuickTime movie Please enable Javascript See up close views of the crash scene Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K 183 K / 38 sec. / 240x180 QuickTime movie Please enable Javascript

June 4, 1999
Web posted at: 10:08 a.m. EDT (1408 GMT)

In this story: Ferocious thunderstorm Crew given regular weather updates Hours of duty before accident RELATED STORIES, SITES

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (CNN) -- Investigators on Friday plan to interview the co-pilot injured when an American Airlines jetliner skidded off a runway and broke into pieces during a severe rainstorm. Nine people died in the Little Rock, Arkansas crash Tuesday night, including the pilot.

Federal authorities want to know why flight spoilers -- devices that kill the lift on the wings to give more breaking action -- did not deploy and why the thrust reversers went on and off seconds after touchdown, two possible mechanical irregularities indicated by the flight data recorder from Flight 1420.

The question now is whether the anomalies were due to mechanical problems or were the result of choices by the pilot.

National Transportation Safety Board member George Black refused to speculate on the significance of the data from the recording devise.

"Those are facts and there has been no analysis done on any of this," he said.

He said the flight data recorders contained 27 to 28 seconds of information about the landing, before losing transmission.

The recorders indicate the thrust reversers were deployed at the time the plane touched down but seconds later they "were cycled from deployed to the unlocked position two times," Black said.

Thrust reversers when deployed deflect air forward to help decelerate the airplane. Eight seconds before the plane lost data, the recorder shows that the left thrust reverser was deployed while the right one was not. The spoiler lever also was in "an abnormal position," Black said.

"I'm not going to speculate about what this means," Black told reporters.

Ferocious thunderstorm

The plane was landing amid a ferocious thunderstorm with powerful wind gusts and dime-size hail falling in the area. The control tower had issued two wind shear alerts to the crew.

Flight 1420 skidded about 5,000 feet -- veering to the left -- on the runway at Little Rock National Airport, hit airport landing lights, crossed a road and came to a halt 1,000 feet from the runway on the bank of the Arkansas River. The co-pilot, Mike Origel, suffered a broken leg during the accident.

Investigators said they spoke with the air traffic controller and he said the plane looked "OK" upon landing, but it disappeared in the rain and mist about halfway down the runway so he did not see the accident, Black said.

"Twice during the approach a pilot commented that he had lost sight of the runway," said Black. "There was heavy rain reported, wind shear alert advisories and the runway visual range was reported to be 1,600 feet."

The plane had 2,400 gallons of fuel at the landing -- plenty enough to fly to alternate airports in Nashville or Dallas, Black said.

But despite the harsh weather, the plane landed at about the "right spot" and in the middle of the runway.

Investigators have listened to the conversation between the control tower and the crew and were analyzing that information to further determine the events leading up to what caused Flight 1420 to skid off the runway.

Teams also will continue studying the so-called "black boxes" and other evidence from the crash site to help determine the primary cause of the accident.

Black says analysis continues on the recording devices recovered from the crash site

Crew given regular weather updates

From evidence gathered so far, investigators said, it is clear the crew was given regular weather updates "to help in there decision making about their flight and their approach," said Black.

"The bottom line is the flight crew makes that decision (to land) based on the information they get from the ground plus what they see on their own radar and with their eyes out the windshield," he said.

Black said data show a level-6 thunderstorm, the most intense category, was "was beginning to enter on the airport property" at the time of the accident and "then a few minutes after, it was centered, probably during the early rescue efforts, ... on the airport."

But he emphasized the crew did not know the storm was a level-6 when the plane approached the runway. The flight was carrying 139 passengers and 6 crew members.

Hours of duty before accident

Among the nine people killed was the pilot, Capt. Richard Buschmann of Chicago. Buschmann was a 20-year veteran with American Airlines described as "very, very experienced.

The names of the other victims, six women and two men, all but one of them from Arkansas, were released late Thursday by the Pulaski County coroner.

They included six members of an elderly tour group and a student who was traveling with a 25-member Baptist college choir that entertained Kosovar refugees on a two-week swing through Europe.

Investigators want to know whether the pilot's decision to land was influenced by a desire to end the long day and get the plane to its intended airport for the night to prevent delays the next morning.

The crew had put in 13 1/2 hours of duty prior to the accident, starting its day in Chicago, where Buschmann was the airline's chief pilot, then flying to Salt Lake City and Dallas before the trip to Little Rock.

Mary Schiavo, a former FAA inspector general, told CNN pilot "fatigue" might have played a factor with the pilot "just wanting to get the plane and the flight home, wanting to get the flight finished."

Investigators said they would begin pulling wreckage from the scene Friday, beginning with the jet's engines.

American has hired a private firm to collect personal belongings scattered across the scene. Officials said about two-thirds of the belongings were not damaged.

Correspondent Tony Clark contributed to this report.

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