[Blitzer:] We'll get back to Lake George in a moment and cover that story, that boat that capsized, killing 20 passengers. But let's check another developing story we're following right now. CNN's Zain Verjee joining us from the CNN center on that plain crash in Florida. What do you know now, Zain?
[Zain Verjee, Cnn Correspondent:] We're getting more information, Wolf. We know now that that plane that crashed on takeoff from Deland Airport in Florida was carrying 11 people. They were essentially out to have a good time and to go sky diving. Authorities are saying that there were injuries, but none of them are life threatening. The Federal Aviation Authority is sending a team from Orlando to investigate this crash. It crashed at about 3:00 pm local time. The Deland police chief says that the plane had actually reached a height of 250-300 feet before it just went down and plummeted to the ground. The pilot, Wolf, is among those that have been injured. He's been taken to the hospital. The company owner says the pilot was actually on his seventh flight of the day, and that the weather was really good. And he has no idea what could have caused this crash. Again, though, Wolf, good news that there have been no life threatening injuries.
[Blitzer:] Good news indeed. The NTSB will have more to investigate, though, Zain. Thank you very much. Zain Verjee reporting for us. Let's get back to this other story we're following, the boat that capsized on Lake George in upstate New York yesterday, killing 20 passengers, 27 survived, as well as the captain, the pilot of this boat. Jerry Thornell is a former navigation officer for Warren County which is where Lake George is. He's been there for a long time. You heard our Tom Foreman offer this theory about this echoing effect, given the narrowness of Lake George, about three-and-a-half miles wide. What do you make of that theory that he was expressing?
[Thornell:] Well, I'm not a geologist, but I never heard of a theory like that. And certainly this lake has had thousands of vessels operating yearly, for years and years and years, and we never had an event like this. So I really kind of discount that.
[Blitzer:] What about this theory that the passengers, for whatever reason, all 47 or most of them, wound up either sliding or moving to one side, and they were heavy and the boat simply couldn't handle it and capsized?
[Thornell:] I think that has feasibility. The reality of it is that if you put a lot of people on one side of a boat, you're going to put the weight and balance out, and then a catastrophic event, I suspect could possibly happen. But I don't know that that's the cause. But I certainly think it's a reasonable assumption to look in that direction.
[Blitzer:] The life vests that are there, the flotation devices, in a situation like this where you literally only have a few seconds to deal with an emergency, how available are they? In other words, you have to open up boxes or are they you just grab them as you see a situation develop?
[Thornell:] In this particular vessel, the life jackets are stowed above the rail. They would have to be reached for and taken out. It would not be a situation where you could immediately grab one, it would take probably a half minute or so to grab them. And that's typical on boats to store them above the decks like that.
[Blitzer:] Is it typical, when you start a tour like this, for these 47 elderly tourists from Michigan and we're looking at these live pictures once again from Lake George come in that the pilot explains emergency procedures, sort of like a flight attendant does at the start of a flight?
[Thornell:] Yes. And any vessel that sails in this state of New York, from my experience, the captain or the crew member always addresses the safety issues and points out to people where the life jackets are in case of an emergency, and I'm fully confident knowing the captain is fully competent, that that took place yesterday also.
[Blitzer:] I was sort of surprised but correct me if I am wrong that there was only one pilot, only one professional on board for 47 people. Is that unusual?
[Thornell:] Well again, that is a relatively small boat. It's a single screw. It would only require that one people be the pilot. And I don't know the circumstances of the particular company as to what their policy is as to when they would put a second person aboard, but one person was exactly the captain. And as far as I know, he was the only crew person there, yes.
[Blitzer:] We spoke to the sheriff of Warren County, Larry Cleveland, who knows the captain. We see this video that we got, how quickly it came up, once the flotation devices were there. Do you know the captain?
[Thornell:] I know of him as a former state trooper, retired state trooper in the state of New York.
[Blitzer:] But you don't know him personally, is that what you're saying?
[Thornell:] I don't know him personally, no, I do not.
[Blitzer:] The water is at what temperature normally this time of year?
[Thornell:] Well, yesterday, they were towing, I have every reason to believe it was 68 degrees.
[Blitzer:] Which is chilly, but it's not too bad. It could be a lot colder in upstate New York this time of year?
[Thornell:] I think it's exceptionally warm for this time of the year here. We haven't had a frost, it's a beautiful day today. And I'm assure the temperatures are exactly that today.
[Blitzer:] How were the 27 survivors rescued?
[Thornell:] I think primarily, almost I won't say exclusively, but primarily private boaters who happened to be in the area. Because it was such a beautiful day, the traffic was more than it would have been in any normal Sunday in October, particularly with football and baseball going on. And there was quite a boating crew out there. And they came to the rescue immediately. And because there were so many boats, that's how they were able to pick up those people that many people.
[Blitzer:] Do you know, Jerry, if there was a mayday or a siren went off, or some sort of alarm, some sort of radio communication announcing that there was an S.O.S.?
[Thornell:] Yes, I do know a person in a canoe closed to it had a cell phone, dialed 911 and that call went to the Warren County Sheriff's Department probably within the minute of that boat sinking. And they responded immediately. They did happen to have a boat on the lake at the time, and it was fairly close by and in a matter of maybe five minutes, there were several representatives from the sheriff's department and state police on the scene.
[Blitzer:] Jerry Thornell, a former navigation officer in Warren County in upstate New York. I'm going to have you stand by. We're going to continue our live coverage of the Ethan Allen, the boat that capsized, it's now been brought to the top of Lake George, it's being towed, it's being towed to the shore. We'll continue our special coverage right after this.