NTSB Begins Crash Probe
The National Transportation Safety Board dispatched an investigative team on Wednesday to try to determine the cause of American Airline Flight 1420's crash on a Little Rock, Ark., runway.
NTSB Chairman Jim Hall told CBS This Morning Anchor Jane Robelot that taking care of those who were aboard the plane and finding the jet's recorder are his team's first priorities.
"The role of the NTSB is to be the independent eyes and ears of the American people at any aviation accident site," Hall says. "However, we will work with, in this case, American Airlines, the manufacturer of the aircraft, the engine manufacturers and other individuals that can assist us in the investigation through what we call the party system."
Hall says that one group of investigators will begin working with the aircraft officials later Wednesday.
 NTSB Chairman Jim Hall |
Other NTSB representatives will talk to the relatives of passengers. That group of investigators will work with the American Red Cross and the American Airlines care team to "ensure that the family members, as well as the survivors, are treated properly," Hall says.
As witnesses to the accident, the relatives and the survivors of the crash will also help investigators.
"As part of this accident, we will be looking at the survival factors aspects, what occurred after the accident sequence was concluded in terms of the evacuation of the aircraft, how the aircraft, itself, performed under the breakup and how well the crew and others performed in terms of the emergency evacuation," Hall says.
Since the accident occurred as a thunderstorm cell moved over the runway, Hall says his team will look into what meteorological information was available to air traffic controllers at the time.
"We will look very closely at what type of weather radar was available at the Little Rock Airport, what decisions were made, obviously before this flight departed Dallas and through the entire accident flight," Hall says. "Weather certainly is going to be a factor."
But Hall cautioned that all aspects of the crash would have to be investigated before drawing a conclusion.