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WorldView

Alaska Airlines Crash: Loud Boom Reportedly Heard

Aired February 4, 2000 - 6:13 p.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Some new developments just in the past few minutes in the investigation into last week's crash of the of the Alaska Airlines passenger jet. For that, let's go live to Port Hueneme, California and our own Carl Rochelle -- Carl.

CARL ROCHELLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Judy, what we got was surprising. It raises more questions than it answers, but it is new, important information from the cockpit voice recorder group that has been analyzing what was on that cockpit voice recorder at the headquarters back in Washington.

The report for us was made by the board member here, John Hammerschmidt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN HAMMERSCHMIDT, NTSB: After recovery from this loss of vertical control, a flight attendant advised the crew that she had heard a loud noise in the rear of the aircraft. The crew acknowledged that they had heard it, too.

Observation number four: Slightly more than one minute before the end of the recording, a loud noise can be heard on the recording, and the airplane appears to go out of control. No stall warning was heard during this event.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROCHELLE: This is from the final words of the crew in the final minutes before the plane went down. Hammerschmidt could not or would not characterize what the sounds were, what the sounds sounded like. He didn't even say if the recorder had picked up the sounds, Judy, but based on my experience, I would believe that at some level, they would be able to hear the sound. They wouldn't say what it was, Judy.

WOODRUFF: Carl, are you able at all to speculate, given your experience, about what this might have been, or what it rules out at least?

ROCHELLE: Judy, I am told, quite on deep background, that they not believe it indicates any sort of bomb or criminal activity. What it could be -- and this is just based on personal experience -- it could be something breaking, metal breaking. It could be, if there was a problem with that trim, runaway trim, it could be banking against the stops very hard, metal to metal, that could makes a noise that resounded through the aircraft.

And, Judy, I must say, I tell you, that is pure speculation on my part, what it might be, but those are some of the things that could make sounds like that. Based on the information they have told us so far, though, it's hard to go any further than pure speculation -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: And, Carl, just to be clear, we have yet to hear what they learned from the flight data recorder, is that right?

ROCHELLE: The flight data recorder, all we know about it, is that the data appears be to be good. It is a multiple lead. Forty- eight different path of information being gathered from that in Washington. They were finishing up with the flight data recorder from the American Airlines flight at Phoenix, and that's why they waited until they got that done, started on this one, because that was the next down the line. It just takes a matter of time to read it out. We do know there's two hours and 45 minutes of information, essentially all the time from the time that airplane took off from Port Vallarta, Mexico until it crashed into the waters 20 miles northwest of Los Angeles International Airport. All of that information, all of the things that the controls on that airplane did are on that tape, and that's what they're trying to read. It probably will be Monday before we get a good answer on that -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: All right, Carl Rochelle, at Port Hueneme, California. Thanks, Carl.

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