Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 10, 1994 TAG: 9409120070
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ALIQUIPPA, PA. LENGTH: Medium
``We're all very much at a loss to explain this accident,'' said U.S. Transportation Secretary Federico Pena.
The crew of USAir flight 427 radioed the Pittsburgh airport from six miles away Thursday evening and gave no indication anything was wrong, the airline said. Thirty-eight seconds later, the plane was in trouble and the crew said:
``Oh. [unintelligible] Oh God,''
The control tower told the flight to maintain its altitude at 6,000 feet.
Two seconds later, the crew said:
``[Unintelligible] Traffic emergency. [unintelligible] Oh s---.''
There was no further communication from the plane, according to a transcript released by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The plane flew nose-first into the hill, killing all 132 people on board.
A review of the recordings from the air tower and those contained in the cockpit voice recorder shed little light on the cause of the crash, Carl Vogt, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, said late Friday.
Investigators may be able to piece together more information from listening to background noises picked up on the recorder, he said.
At about 6,000 feet, with both engines operating, the plane apparently rolled to the left in an abnormal way, according to preliminary information from a flight data recorder.
That was 23 seconds before impact, Vogt said.
An examination of the plane's left engine indicated it was operating when the plane hit the ground, Vogt said. It wasn't clear if the right engine was operating.
There were no immediate indications of explosives or a bird caught in the engine, he said.
USAir Chairman Seth Schofield said the airline had received no threats toward flight 427 and had ``no reason to believe there was sabotage.''
The five-member crew was on the last day of a three-day flight schedule, Vogt said.
Some witnesses reported hearing an explosion before the crash; others said they heard the engine sputter, then go silent. Hundreds saw the plane go down, including children and parents at a soccer game about a half-mile away and people outside a shopping center.
The Boeing 737-300 gouged a crater in a stand of trees and shattered into countless small pieces. Only the plane's tail remained intact.
Some victims may never be identified, said Beaver County Coroner Wayne Tatalovich.
``Usually when a plane crashes, there's some large section left somewhere, but that didn't happen in this case,'' said Jim Eichenlaub, Hopewell Township's director of emergency services. ``They're all very small pieces.''
The crash site, about seven miles northwest of the airport, was declared a biological hazard because of the amount of blood.
President Clinton called Gov. Robert Casey and Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy to offer condolences.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB