ad info




CNN.com
 MAIN PAGE
 WORLD
 U.S.
 LOCAL
 POLITICS
 WEATHER
 BUSINESS
 SPORTS
 TECHNOLOGY
 SPACE
 HEALTH
 ENTERTAINMENT
 BOOKS
 TRAVEL
 FOOD
 ARTS & STYLE
 NATURE
 IN-DEPTH
 ANALYSIS
 myCNN

 Headline News brief
 news quiz
 daily almanac

  MULTIMEDIA:
 video
 video archive
 audio
 multimedia showcase
 more services

  E-MAIL:
Subscribe to one of our news e-mail lists.
Enter your address:
Or:
Get a free e-mail account

 DISCUSSION:
 message boards
 chat
 feedback

  CNN WEB SITES:
CNN Websites
 AsiaNow
 En Español
 Em Português
 Svenska
 Norge
 Danmark
 Italian

 FASTER ACCESS:
 europe
 japan

 TIME INC. SITES:
 CNN NETWORKS:
Networks image
 more networks
 transcripts

 SITE INFO:
 help
 contents
 search
 ad info
 jobs

 WEB SERVICES:

  Transcripts

Early Edition

Alaska Airlines Flight 261: Safety Records of Plane, Company Makes Crash 'Somewhat Baffling,' Says Goldfarb

Aired February 1, 2000 - 7:18 a.m. ET

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

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Want to follow up now on the Alaska Airlines crash from yesterday afternoon on the West Coast. Federal inspectors and the Boeing Company are checking records for reports of any possible problems with the horizontal stabilizer in MD-80 jetliners. The pilot on board Flight 261 radioed problems with the stabilizer trim, located in the back of the plane, just before it went down off the coast of California.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DUGAN BLECHSCHMIDT, ALASKA AIRLINES CHECK PILOT: We talk about the small wing, as you would see it, sitting on top of the tail of the MD-80. It has two components to it, basically, if you take a look at it. The front two-thirds, roughly, of that wing is affixed, and it is the horizontal stabilizer. The rear third of that little wing is the elevator, which the pilots control with the yoke in this kind of a fashion to make the airplane go up or down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Want to talk more about this with Michael Goldfarb, former chief of staff, Federal Aviation Administration, live this morning in Washington.

Michael, good morning to you.

MICHAEL GOLDFARB, FMR. FAA CHIEF OF STAFF: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: Wish we could talk on better matters, but this is what we see each other on every single time.

GOLDFARB: Well, unfortunately -- unfortunately a little bit too frequently lately.

HEMMER: Yes. Let's talk more. Quickly, an education about the stabilizer trim located in the tail of the airplane. How does it work, what functioned does it serve?

GOLDFARB: Well, it balances the craft, Bill. Basically, an en route flight, it's -- if there's a shift in the weight distribution of the aircraft or there's turbulence, it provides an added measure of balance. Once again, with the caution here, 12 hours after a terrible tragedy, speculation, rule of thumb, whatever we think the problem is normally turns out not to be the cause, so it's so premature. But obviously, because the pilots reported this problem, the only good news, if there is good news in this, is that hopefully we'll be able to find a ready -- zero in pretty quickly on what might have caused this terrible crash. But as you've heard, the priorities now have to be search and rescue and hopefully finding some people still alive in the California waters.

HEMMER: And again, I want to steer clear of any speculation, as you mentioned; we don't have any answers thus far. But on a normal airliner, is the stabilizer trim turned on and off during the course of flight or is it always activated?

GOLDFARB: Yes, I mean, it is controlled by the pilots. There's been very, very rare instances where the stabilizer would, so-called, run away from the pilots, where in fact they would lose control of it. That's rare, and if that were to happen it would eventually lead the plane into a dive. In this case, the pilots reported the problem, which gives you the idea that they had some sense of it, they were aware of it and perhaps had some control.

So, the stabilizer alone, number one, this plane, the MD-83, a longer version of the MD-80, has had no crashes, I believe. Alaska Airlines has an excellent safety record in very difficult flying environments in Alaska. I mean, they're the envy of the industry. A young aircraft, it did just have a recent "A check," a light maintenance inspection, about a week and a half ago. So, it's somewhat baffling, and people should not feel that stabilizers are going to bring down aircraft, here. We have not had that happen in the past, and we're just going to have to wait and see when the board assembles its go team and they get on site and begin to pick apart some of these issues.

HEMMER: In so many cases, early on, as you mentioned -- 12 hours into it at this point -- there is really no clue given as to what happened. But in this case there was a report of mechanical problems.

GOLDFARB: Right.

HEMMER: There apparently also is a witness that saw that plane go nose first into the water. How critical is that account?

GOLDFARB: Well, I mean, first of all, the account -- eyewitness accounts are vital. Corroborating accounts of what might be a mechanical problem, whether it be a stabilizer or an elevator problem in the tail of the plane are critical. The cockpit voice recorder -- hopefully they'll find it -- is a critical piece of equipment. What we hopefully want to avoid is months and months of protracted investigation with every day a new idea, a new theory; we've been through that, it's painful for the families, it's painful for people close to the investigation. And hopefully the board can move quickly here and piece together this tragedy so we don't have to do too much of this early speculation.

Aviation crashes, Bill, are a series of things that occur; they're normally not just one thing that happens. That's why they're so rare, although it seems like we've had a few lately. HEMMER: We have to leave it there. Michael Goldfarb, live in Washington. Thanks, Michael.

GOLDFARB: Thank you, Bill.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

  ArrowCLICK HERE FOR TODAY'S TOPICS AND GUESTS
ArrowCLICK HERE FOR CNN PROGRAM SCHEDULES
SEARCH CNN.com
Enter keyword(s)   go    help

Back to the top   © 2001 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.