NTSB Holds Press Conference on Lidle Crash
BLITZER: Welcome back to the SITUATION ROOM. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. We're about to go to New York. A news conference about to begin. The news conference will be conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board. There you see Deborah Hersman, she's going to be making a statement and answering questions. Deborah Hersman from the National Transportation Safety Board, which is in charge of this investigation into the crash yesterday. Let's listen.</s>DEBORAH HERSMAN, NTSB SPOKESWOMAN: Good evening. I'm Debbie Hersman. D-E-B-B-I-E. Last name, H-E-R-S-M-A-N. I'm a board member with the National Transportation Safety Board. I'm accompanied by the Lorenzo Ward (ph), the investigator in charge for the accident. I'd like to begin by giving you some updates on the progress that our team has made since we arrived yesterday. We're here to investigate the accident that occurred yesterday afternoon. NTSB investigators are assisted by the Federal Aviation Administration; the airplane's manufacturer, Cirrus Aircraft; the engine manufacturer, Teledyne Continental Motors. We have received tremendous unseen support from the city of New York and all of the state, local, and federal emergency responders and officials. They have assisted us with locating all of the aircraft parts and with moving them to a nearby facility, which is a process that is ongoing. Information about the two pilots that were presumed to be on board, one was a private pilot, who was properly certificated. The other was a certified flight instructor, who was authorized by the FAA to conduct flight training on this type of aircraft. Our team is interviewing, as we're here today, a local certified flight instructor who had flown numerous times with the aircraft's owner. Radar data has been obtained from various sources. We're correlating all of that data and putting it together. The information that we have so far indicates the flight left Teterboro headed north. It made a right turn and flew south over the Hudson River near the New Jersey shore line. It made 180 degree left turn around the Statue of Liberty. It was headed north. It flew along the East River, between Roosevelt Island and Queens. At about 70th Street, it was still headed north at approximately 120 miles -- 112 miles per hour. It began a left turn back to the south at approximately 700 feet. The final radar return shows the airplane in a left turn a quarter a mile north of the building at an altitude of approximately 500 feet. Additional radar data from other sources will provide us more information. We continue to put that together at our headquarters in Washington. Weather information at the time of departure: the winds were from the east at seven knots, visibility was seven miles, the ceiling was at 1,700 feet. At the time of the accident, the winds in Central Park were from the northeast at six knots. On scene today, our team took a very systemic approach to documenting the wreckage. They began on the 40th floor where the airplane impacted. They worked their way through the 41st floor, and then down from the 39th floor, and on through the rest of the floors. They were looking on terraces and ledges for any aircraft parts. We did locate a hand-held GPS system, which we have sent back to Washington to be analyzed. On the third floor terrace, we found a memory chip for a multifunction display. This may have some memory on it. Both of these items, though, are damaged. This was a severe impact. The memory chip is bent. And both items exhibited some thermal damage as well. They have been sent to our headquarters, our labs in our headquarters, for additional review and download of any information that might be there. We have located all four corners of the airplane. What this means is that we have located the nose, the tail, and both of the wings. We have located control surfaces, such as ailerons, the elevator, and the rudder. We have gone through nearby rooftops and adjacent buildings. We're locating aircraft parts. And the purpose for this is to document their specific location and the condition. We will be collecting all of those parts and moving them to another facility. Finally, we located the instrument panel. Information from the instrument panel will aid our investigators, if it's usable. We have sent that, also, back to our all lab and headquarters for analysis. The engine was brought down from the 40th floor this afternoon. It's going to be shipped to Alabama. That's where Teledyne Continental Motors is based. The NTSB will supervise a teardown or a further review, an examination of the engine. The propeller was manufactured by Hartzell. It's being sent to Ohio. And, again, the NTSB will supervise a further review of the propeller. Initial field examination shows strong evidence that the propellers were turning at the time of impact. A representative from the parachute manufacturer was also assisting us on scene today. He's examined the parachute system. An initial examination, appears that it was thermally discharged. I just...</s>QUESTION: Say it again, please.</s>HERSMAN: Sure. The parachute manufacturer conducted an initial examination of the charge that was discharged for the parachute system, the aircraft parachute system. Early indications that he observed shows that the air -- shows that it was thermally discharged.</s>HERSMAN: He still needs to conduct an additional examination to ensure that that is actually how the discharge occurred, but I'm sharing with you preliminary information that we have found from our initial reviews. I did go take another look at the accident scene. And the parachute is very tightly packed. There is significant burn damage to the package that contains the parachute, but it is tightly packed. Toxicology samples have been taken. And this is a standard practice in accident investigation. Our team is completing our on- scene investigation at this point in time. As I mentioned to you earlier, numerous parts are being sent back to our headquarters lab in Washington, D.C.</s>HERSMAN: Thank you. Our team is completing the on-scene phases of our investigation. As I mentioned, numerous parts have been sent back to our lab in Washington. The engines and the propellers are being sent back to the manufacturer site for further review and teardown. We hope to release the scene within the next 24 hours and be able to move the aircraft parts to another facility for further examination. This will likely be our final press briefing while we are on scene. However, any additional information that becomes available will be presented to the public through follow-up briefings, press releases, and information released from our Washington headquarters office. I would be happy to take questions.</s>QUESTION: Debbie, what does thermally discharged mean?</s>HERSMAN: The manufacturer of the parachute system has taken a look at the system, especially the charge. And it appears that it has been thermally discharged. As you all know, there was significant fire that occurred post-crash. The thermal discharge indicates that there was a heat and fire effect on the charge, and that it appears that it was thermally discharged. The things we are looking at is whether it could have been deployed by the crew, whether it was damaged on impact, or whether there was thermal damage or discharge. The manufacturer took a look at it. His preliminary information that was provided to us is that it appears that the charge -- that it was thermally discharged.</s>QUESTION: Can you talk about the flight...</s>QUESTION: Meaning that the fire...</s>QUESTION: ... who was piloting the plane...</s>QUESTION: ... Cory Lidle or the flight instructor?</s>HERSMAN: We do not know who was piloting the aircraft.</s>QUESTION: Can you talk about the flight log at all?</s>QUESTION: ... airport for permission to enter airspace. Is that accurate?</s>HERSMAN: We have heard reports that there were additional contacts with air traffic control that have -- that have been stated in the media. We have been working with the FAA. They're reviewing tower tapes at Newark, La Guardia, Kennedy, and Teterboro. We do not have any information of any mayday or distress calls or that any other contact was made with those towers requesting other clearances. As we reported last night, they were -- they took off from Teterboro. They were in contact with the tower at Teterboro. Teterboro tower asked them if they wanted to be transferred to New York TRACON. They said that they did not want to be transferred to New York TRACON, that they were going to fly VFR up and down the river. That was the last contact that we have reported to us by air traffic control.</s>QUESTION: Could you talk a little bit about the flight log and whether or not...</s>HERSMAN: One of our investigators is interviewing an instructor, a certified flight instructor who has flown with the owner of the aircraft on numerous times. That interview was being conducted when I was preparing for this press conference. And I do not know what information might have been gleaned from that interview. NTSB investigations are very comprehensive. We're going to be looking at training. We're going to be looking at qualifications. We have taken fuel samples. We will be looking at fuel samples. Air traffic control tapes, radar data, maintenance records, all of this information is part of our investigation, as are witness interviews, and interviews of people who have flown with these two pilots in the past.</s>QUESTION: Can tell</s>HERSMAN: The question was is if we have any information about the last time this plane was looked at by a mechanic. That is also part of our investigation. We will be gathering maintenance records. We will looking -- be looking at where this aircraft was based, what maintenance might have been done, any records that might be available. That is all part of our investigation. And that is standard procedure in NTSB investigations.</s>QUESTION: Were weather conditions...</s>QUESTION: Do you have any information...</s>BLITZER: All right, Debbie Hersman of the National Transportation Safety Board briefing us on the course of this investigation -- it's only just beginning. This will take weeks, probably months, before the NTSB comes up with a final report. Some preliminary indications, though, that that parachute aboard that small plane, according to the preliminary investigation, was, in the words of the parachute manufacturer, thermally discharged, though it was tightly packed when they found it, unclear how it was discharged, whether it was discharged upon impact, whether someone pushed the button, the lever, to discharge that parachute. That's one thing they are going to be looking at. Also, she is now saying there is no evidence -- at least they haven't found any evidence yet -- that there was any distress call or mayday appeal from the cockpit of this small plane, contrary to some reports yesterday that there was a mayday distress call that was made. We're going to continue to monitor this news conference, get you more information, as it becomes available. But, clearly, they have a lot of work to do to determine why that small plane crashed into that 50-story residential building yesterday. Up next: He's the top Democrat in the Senate, but now Harry Reid is under attack from Republicans because of the sale of some property. We are going to take a closer look at just what the senator did. Plus: Arnold Schwarzenegger's late-night adventure. Why is his appearance on the "Jay Leno" show causing some political controversy? Much more coming up. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.