Final Minutes Of Flight 5481

Two minutes before US Airways Express Flight 5481 crashed on takeoff, Capt. Katie Leslie and co-pilot Jonathan Gibbs joked about giving Krispy Kreme doughnuts as a wedding gift.

But the conversation turned serious, then frantic, as the plane took off from Charlotte-Douglas International Airport with its nose pointed too far up, according to transcripts of the cockpit voice recorder released Tuesday.

"Help me," Leslie said. Gibbs swore.

He swore again as Leslie apparently pushed the control column that moves the tail flap, which was supposed to push the nose down to the correct angle.

But the tail flap, or elevator, did not respond properly, according to Lorenda Ward, investigator in charge for the National Transportation Safety Board.

"Oh, my God," said Leslie, who then radioed the control tower. "We have an emergency."

A child yelled, "Daddy!"

Warning horns sounded.

"Pull the power back," Leslie said. "Oh my God."

The plane plunged to earth 37 seconds into the Jan. 8 flight from Charlotte, N.C., to Greer, S.C. All 21 people aboard the 19-seat Beech 1900 turboprop were killed.

Safety investigators zeroed in Tuesday on airplane maintenance by outside contractors at a hearing into the cause of the plane crash.

The plane, which plunged to earth 37 seconds after takeoff, was found to have improperly set turnbuckles, which control tension on elevator control cables. If a cable is too slack, the pilot does not have full control of the elevator, a tail flap that moves up and down and causes the plane to climb or dive.

The crew of the plane apparently didn't have enough control of the elevator to pull the plane out of a steep climb on takeoff, which caused the wings to lose their lift and the plane to dive, according to Ward.

The elevator control cables were adjusted two nights before the crash at a repair station owned by a company other than the airline; that company, in turn, hired mechanics from another company.

The hearing raised the issue of whether the Federal Aviation Administration should oversee outsourced maintenance facilities more closely.

Though major airlines, except for Southwest, perform their own maintenance, many smaller airlines, corporate jets and the U.S. military outsource their maintenance. Big airlines struggling to become profitable again are expected to rely more heavily on outsourced maintenance.

Passengers who died in the Charlotte plane crash may not have realized that they were traveling on a plane owned by Air Midwest, which had an agreement with US Airways Express.

"Passengers expect that when the US Airways name appears on any flights, that these flights will be operated and maintained to US Airways' high standards," said David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association.

Air Midwest outsourced its maintenance to Raytheon Aerospace, which is 74 percent owned by Veritas Capital Inc. Raytheon Aerospace hired contract mechanics from Structural Modification and Repair Technicians Inc. (SMART).

On the night the Beech 1900 underwent maintenance, there were no Air Midwest representatives at the hangar. The Raytheon supervisor who was teaching the mechanic to adjust the elevator control cables also signed off on his work, a questionable practice under the regulations.

"Air Midwest let US Airways down by not providing proper oversight," Stempler said.

Another factor contributing to the crash may have been weight. The plane was judged to be within 100 pounds of its weight limit. Too much weight can change a small plane's center of gravity and make it much more difficult to fly.

The aircraft's data recorder showed an unusual up-and-down motion of the elevator control on all nine flights it took following the maintenance work, investigators have said. The flight that crashed was carrying the heaviest load since the elevator cables were adjusted, investigators said.

By Leslie Miller