Posted on 11/12/2001 9:38:53 AM PST by nicmarlo
An American Airlines A-300 reported mechanical trouble while waiting to take off Monday morning, about an hour before it crashed just outside News York's JFK Airport.
AA Flight 587 was scheduled to take off at 8:00 a.m. but was held on the ground for an hour and fifteen minutes to repair an unidentified mechanical problem, a travel agent familiar with the flight told WABC Radio.
Additionally, a United Airlines pilot says he over-heard a radio report from Flight 587's pilot saying he was experiencing engine trouble before the plane exploded in mid-air over New York's Jamaica Bay.
The Bush administration has announced the FBI believes that Flight 587 did explode in mid-air and is working to determine the cause.
Ya, the Velcro holding the engine on was replaced.!.!.!>
[IN PART] Q Is there any evidence of terrorism at this point? And was there any reports of trouble from the cockpit, or smoke from the cockpit?
MR. FLEISCHER: There were no unusual communications with the cockpit. We have not yet discovered the black box; authorities believe they will find it in this case. It has not been found at this moment. There will be additional communications that will be searched to see if there are any other communications, but at this moment all communications were normal prior to the crash.
* * *
Q Ari, was there, in fact, an explosion on board, and is that being investigated as something that may be purely related to a mechanical failure at this point?
MR. FLEISCHER: I saw a report on the news earlier that indicated a government official had said there was an explosion on board. I've been informed that there was no government official who gave any such indication. The government continues to gather the facts to ascertain information. There have been, according to eyewitnesses, information that an engine was seen being detached from the plane, and that it landed separately from the main body of the airplane.
* * *
Q You said that there was no unusual communications from the cockpit. Can you tell us what your understanding is of the nature of those communications? And are you aware that the pilot declared to ground controllers that he had a mechanical?
MR. FLEISCHER: No, that's what I mean by no unusual communications. There were no communications in the cockpit -- first reports -- and, again, I want to caution everybody, first reports do change, and we will be looking for additional tapes, any other information that is available. But by all first reports, there were no unusual communications between the cockpit and the tower at JFK or the New York facility that is handed over communications after the plane is departed from the airport area.
Q So not even an indication that the pilot declared an emergency?
MR. FLEISCHER: By all first reports, there were no unusual communications between the pilot and communicators either at JFK or at the New York facilities that monitor traffic after it has taken off.
* * *
Q Ari, as a follow-up to that thought, what does the White House make of the idea that the FFA said that at 9:17 a.m., they lost radar and radio contact, which is not -- which is unusual? So even if there was no unusual communications, the fact that they lost contact is unusual.
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, that clearly happened, and that speaks for itself. An airplane crashed. And when airplanes crash, they go below radar ability to see them, and so that you do lose contact. The question was, was there any unusual contact, not lost contact. Clearly, contact was lost. But were there any conversations between the pilot and any of the towers or the communications facilities that would indicate any trouble that the pilots were aware of? The answer to that, based on all preliminary reviews, is no. (questions continue.)
Made me feel much safer knowing they were using duct tape instead of velcro.
saying a another prayer for the families
How can 1 hour, 15 min. be called a "standard delay?" I don't get it. All the flights I've been on, a delay is not standard, especially for one hour.
By the time the calls stop to federalize this and that, we all will be.
I don't know you, so I won't call you names, but the way in which you speak sounds like cowardice to me.
You do what you want, I'm going to fly when I want to go somewhere -- as a matter of fact I bought Christmas tickets last week. I hope the airline industry recovers. I do not plan to let terrorists shove me into a corner cowering.
Since you think it is "despicable" that the President would like Americans to go about their business, perhaps you'd be more happy if he told us to all go into bomb shelters and be afraid for our lives. And as for lives, apparently you need to get one.
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