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The problem is first hinted at in the transcipts when an air traffic controller in Kansas City told the pilots it was was rare to see the plane flying at an altitude of 41,000 feet.
"Yeah, we’re actually . . . we don’t have any passengers on board, so we decided to have a little fun and come up here," one of the pilots said. The transcripts don’t identify whether Rhodes or Cesarz made the statement.
But the pilot soon told air traffic controllers that the CRJ2 wouldn’t remain at that altitude for long.
"I don’t think he had enough gas up there; he was so slow," one air traffic controller said.
The transcripts then describe the conversations between the pilots and the air traffic controllers as the first engine loses power followed by the second engine at 13,000 feet.
"We’re going to need a little lower to start this other engine up, so we’re going to go down to about 12 or 11. Is that cool?" the pilot asked.
A few moments later, he reported double engine failure, according to the transcripts.
The last contact that air traffic controllers had with the plane was at 9,000 feet, when the pilot reported an airport beacon in sight.
Earlier that day, the jet had aborted a scheduled flight with passengers from Little Rock, Ark., after an indicator light went on for part of its bleed-air system. The system pulls hot, compressed air from the engines to heat other components of the plane.
An airplane indicator light signaled a potential problem with the bleed-air sensing loop, which uses heat to determine whether air is leaking from the engine.
The plane’s loop was replaced before it took off for Minneapolis with just the crew.
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