AP: Kennedy's Plane Was OK
By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The wreckage of John F. Kennedy Jr.'s plane showed no signs of in-flight breakup or fire, and the engine appeared to have been working when the aircraft plunged into the ocean, a federal safety panel said today.
The National Transportation Safety Board, releasing its first update in a week on its investigation of the July 16 crash that killed Kennedy, his wife and her sister, also said that Kennedy had received a weather forecast via the Internet for his flight from Fairfield, N.J., to Martha's Vineyard, Mass. The report, issued at 6:30 p.m., or about two hours before takeoff, was for good visual-flight-rules conditions, with six to eight miles visibility.
No weather warnings were issued to pilots flying Kennedy's route, which took him over the Long Island Sound along the southern coast of Connecticut.
''However, pilots who had flown over Long Island Sound that evening reported after the accident that the in-flight visibility over the water was significantly reduced,'' the safety board's statement said. ''Interviews of those pilots will continue.''
Kennedy, the 38-year-old son of President Kennedy, his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, 33, and her 34-year-old sister Lauren Bessette, were flying in Kennedy's single-engine Piper Saratoga when it crashed about 7 1/2 miles southwest of the Vineyard.
The couple had intended to drop off Miss Bessette on the island before flying to nearby Hyannis, Mass., for the wedding of Kennedy's cousin Rory, youngest child of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.
After a five-day search, the bodies of the three victims were located in 116 feet of water, still strapped into their seats.
The safety board, which is investigating the accident, said the USS Grasp recovered about 75 percent of the plane. Among the items were a primitive recording device, which was destroyed by the impact with the water. The wreckage was handed over to investigators in Newport, R.I., earlier this week and subsequently taken to a secure hangar at the Coast Guard Air Station on the grounds of the former Otis Air Force Base.
The wreckage included about 80 percent of the left wing, 60 percent of the right wing, the engine and the propeller, as well as the cockpit instrument panel.
The propeller ''indicated the presence of rotational damage,'' which would indicate it was still spinning when the plane crashed. Radar tapes show the plane plummeted into the water at a descent rate of perhaps greater than 5,000 feet per minute at about 9:40 p.m.
The engine was sent to Williamsport, Pa., for examination by its manufacturer, Textron Lycoming, while the propeller was transferred to a facility near Dayton, Ohio, for examination by Hartzell Propeller. Both inspections were conducted under supervision of the safety board, as is standard practice. The parts have since been returned to Cape Cod.
''No evidence was found during the examinations of conditions that would have prevented either the engine or the propeller from operating,'' the statement said.
The board said the aircraft's Global Positioning System unit and selected cockpit instruments will be sent to its lab in Washington for examination. The radios, meanwhile, have been hand-carried to their manufacturer, Allied Signal, in Kansas.
The statement said investigators have learned that Kennedy had about 300 hours of flying experience, not including his time in the Saratoga, which he bought in April. Kennedy received his pilot's license in April 1998.
The NTSB has said it hopes to complete its investigation in six to nine months.
Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater and Coast Guard Commandant Adm. James M. Loy today paid tribute to those who ''stretched themselves to their limits'' in the search for the Kennedy plane.
Representatives from more than a dozen federal, state and local police and rescue agencies accepted commendations for their efforts in a ceremony at a Coast Guard command center in Boston.
Slater defended the massive and costly search mission for the three civilians.
''The president made it clear we should have done what we did -- go the extra miles for a family who has suffered so much and contributed so much,'' Slater said. |
