Date: 11/7/2008
By ALEXANDRA OLSON
Associated Press Writer
MEXICO CITY (AP) _ Two flight recorders from a plane crash that killed Mexico’s No. 2 government official were sent to the U.S. for examination, officials said Thursday, amid widespread speculation — but no evidence — that drug cartels were to blame.
Both “black boxes” were found where the Learjet 45 slammed into rush-hour traffic in a posh Mexico City neighborhood, Transportation Secretary Luis Tellez said at a news conference. Five people on the ground and nine people on the plane were killed in Tuesday’s crash, including Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mourino.
Officials say they have few clues as to why the plane suddenly dropped from the evening sky.
But they have been unusually open in publicizing details of the investigation, trying to discourage conspiracy theories that thrive in a country on edge from relentless news of drug-related shootings, kidnappings and beheadings. The violence has surged during a 2-year-old army and police offensive to wrest control from drug cartels.
The 37-year-old Mourino, one of President Felipe Calderon’s closest confidants, was Mexico’s equivalent of vice president and domestic security chief. Also on the plane was former anti-drug prosecutor Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, who had been the target of at least one assassination attempt.
“Nobody is more interested than me in the truth emerging and the cause of this incident being cleared up,” Calderon said at a memorial ceremony for the dead.
Tellez said experts would need at least a week to analyze the plane’s voice and data recorders for clues to what went wrong.
The crash occurred in clear weather, and in their last recorded radio conversation, the plane’s flight crew calmly discussed radio frequencies and speed with controllers. The tape went silent just as radar lost the plane’s altitude reading.
“Everything was normal on the flight, and a few seconds before the accident, something happened that significantly altered” the situation, said Gilberto Lopez, a pilot overseeing the probe. “At this moment, all the possibilities are potentially important.”
He said experts are following the normal lines of investigation for any crash, including possible human error, mechanical failures, maintenance problems or turbulence caused by other aircraft.
Experts from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority are in Mexico helping with the investigation.
On Thursday, Calderon’s office said that U.S. President-elect Barack Obama had expressed his condolences for the deaths in a phone call with Calderon, who had called to congratulate Obama on his victory.
In an editorial Thursday, El Universal newspaper urged people to wait for results of the investigation before jumping to conclusions. But it also noted that Mexico’s “history is filled with assassinations that have never been cleared up or whose resolution does not deserve the trust of public opinion.”
In an unrelated incident, a small plane owned by a flight school made an emergency landing in a field just outside Mexico City, injuring both people aboard the craft. There was no immediate information on their condition or the cause of the mishap.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Mexico says jet crash likely accident
Date: 11/5/2008
By JULIE WATSON
Associated Press Writer
MEXICO CITY (AP) _ A fiery plane crash into rush-hour traffic claimed the life of the Mexico’s most powerful official after the president, a heavy blow to the government’s escalating battle against drug cartels.
Officials say all indications are that the crash was an accident, but they vowed to investigate thoroughly to rule out the possibility of an attack and brought in U.S. and British investigators to help.
The plane carried Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mourino, the equivalent of Mexico’s vice president and head of domestic security, as well as former anti-drug prosecutor Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos.
The government Learjet 45 was approaching the Mexico City airport when it suddenly slammed into rush-hour traffic in the posh Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood, igniting a fireball that lit up the evening sky and killed at least 13 people.
“There was an explosion and we started to run. That was when we saw everything on fire behind us,” said Guadalupe Sanabria, who was selling hot dogs from a street stand 20 yards (meters) from where the jet crashed.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff called Mourino “a courageous and strong partner in the fight against dangerous criminal groups.”
“He believed in the rule of law and worked very hard to increase coordination among security officials and law enforcement on both sides of the border,” Chertoff said in a statement Wednesday.
Many Mexicans immediately speculated that the crash was another hit by drug cartels that have killed several top officials in recent months.
Mourino, Vasconcelos and a group of advisers were flying back to Mexico City from the city of San Luis Potosi after attending the inauguration of a program to welcome migrants returning from the U.S.
Mexico City prosecutor Miguel Angel Mancera told the Televisa network that nine of the victims were on the plane and four were on the ground. He said officials were searching for more possible remains.
Dozens of cars caught fire and at least 40 people were injured, while officials evacuated about 1,200 people from the scene near the busy Reforma Avenue.
Hundreds of police, firefighters and soldiers searched charred hulks of vehicles for the remains of bodies, many of which were burned beyond recognition.
Mourino, 37, was Calderon’s closest aide, while Vasconcelos was previously in charge of prosecuting and extraditing drug traffickers and had been the target of at least one planned assassination attempt in the past.
The Sinaloa cartel is suspected of having killed acting Mexican federal police chief Edgar Millan in May, likely for his crackdown on trafficking at the airport. Just months after taking office nearly two years ago, Calderon acknowledged receiving threats.
“It makes you suspicious, the way things are going with drug trafficking in this country,” said Arturo Hernandez, a 39-year-old bank employee sitting at a cafe in Mexico City. “It seems like an attack.”
Transportation Secretary Luis Tellez, however, told a news conference that “there are no indications that would support any hypothesis other than that this was an accident, but we will investigate until all possibilities have been exhausted.”
Tellez said authorities have not found any indication that the 10-year-old craft exploded or caught fire while in flight. He said a mechanical failure may have caused the crash.
U.S. experts from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board, or NTSB, arrived Wednesday, and three experts from Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority will also help investigate, Tellez said.
Keith Holloway, the spokesman for the NTSB, also said there was no indication that foul play was involved.
“If it was known as this point that there was some criminal activity, then the NTSB would not be assisting,” he said.
The death prompted Mexico’s Congress to postpone debate on a new budget until next week, the government news agency Notimex reported.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By JULIE WATSON
Associated Press Writer
MEXICO CITY (AP) _ A fiery plane crash into rush-hour traffic claimed the life of the Mexico’s most powerful official after the president, a heavy blow to the government’s escalating battle against drug cartels.
Officials say all indications are that the crash was an accident, but they vowed to investigate thoroughly to rule out the possibility of an attack and brought in U.S. and British investigators to help.
The plane carried Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mourino, the equivalent of Mexico’s vice president and head of domestic security, as well as former anti-drug prosecutor Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos.
The government Learjet 45 was approaching the Mexico City airport when it suddenly slammed into rush-hour traffic in the posh Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood, igniting a fireball that lit up the evening sky and killed at least 13 people.
“There was an explosion and we started to run. That was when we saw everything on fire behind us,” said Guadalupe Sanabria, who was selling hot dogs from a street stand 20 yards (meters) from where the jet crashed.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff called Mourino “a courageous and strong partner in the fight against dangerous criminal groups.”
“He believed in the rule of law and worked very hard to increase coordination among security officials and law enforcement on both sides of the border,” Chertoff said in a statement Wednesday.
Many Mexicans immediately speculated that the crash was another hit by drug cartels that have killed several top officials in recent months.
Mourino, Vasconcelos and a group of advisers were flying back to Mexico City from the city of San Luis Potosi after attending the inauguration of a program to welcome migrants returning from the U.S.
Mexico City prosecutor Miguel Angel Mancera told the Televisa network that nine of the victims were on the plane and four were on the ground. He said officials were searching for more possible remains.
Dozens of cars caught fire and at least 40 people were injured, while officials evacuated about 1,200 people from the scene near the busy Reforma Avenue.
Hundreds of police, firefighters and soldiers searched charred hulks of vehicles for the remains of bodies, many of which were burned beyond recognition.
Mourino, 37, was Calderon’s closest aide, while Vasconcelos was previously in charge of prosecuting and extraditing drug traffickers and had been the target of at least one planned assassination attempt in the past.
The Sinaloa cartel is suspected of having killed acting Mexican federal police chief Edgar Millan in May, likely for his crackdown on trafficking at the airport. Just months after taking office nearly two years ago, Calderon acknowledged receiving threats.
“It makes you suspicious, the way things are going with drug trafficking in this country,” said Arturo Hernandez, a 39-year-old bank employee sitting at a cafe in Mexico City. “It seems like an attack.”
Transportation Secretary Luis Tellez, however, told a news conference that “there are no indications that would support any hypothesis other than that this was an accident, but we will investigate until all possibilities have been exhausted.”
Tellez said authorities have not found any indication that the 10-year-old craft exploded or caught fire while in flight. He said a mechanical failure may have caused the crash.
U.S. experts from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board, or NTSB, arrived Wednesday, and three experts from Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority will also help investigate, Tellez said.
Keith Holloway, the spokesman for the NTSB, also said there was no indication that foul play was involved.
“If it was known as this point that there was some criminal activity, then the NTSB would not be assisting,” he said.
The death prompted Mexico’s Congress to postpone debate on a new budget until next week, the government news agency Notimex reported.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Plane crash leaves Mexico interior secretary dead
Date: 11/5/2008
By MARK STEVENSON
Associated Press Writer
MEXICO CITY (AP) _ One of Mexico’s top pointmen in the war against drug trafficking died when a government jet crashed into a Mexico City street, setting fire to dozens of vehicles and dealing crusading President Felipe Calderon a serious blow.
Officials said the Tuesday crash appeared to be an accident but the loss of Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mourino, former anti-drug prosecutor Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos and six others thinned the ranks of Mexico’s already embattled leadership.
U.S. Ambassador Antonio Garza praised the two officials and suggested them as models for the fight against organized crime.
“Their dedication and commitment to accomplishing their work, especially that which strengthened our bilateral fight against those who attack the security of our two countries, certainly will be a model for all of us in a common effort that will continue to strengthen,” Garza said in a statement.
Mourino, 37, was one of President Felipe Calderon’s closest advisers but has been embroiled in scandal since taking office in the midst of Mexico’s violent fight against drug cartels. He was in charge of the country’s security.
“With his death, Mexico has lost a great Mexican, intelligent, loyal and committed to his ideals and his country,” Calderon told a news conference. “I ask all Mexicans that they don’t allow any event, no matter how difficult or painful, to weaken them in the pursuit of a better Mexico.”
Calderon has sent tens of thousands of federal police and army troops throughout Mexico to fight drug cartels that are fighting increasingly bloody turf battles and killing police officials.
Presidential spokesman Max Cortazar said Mourino and a group of advisers had attended the launching of a program to welcome returning migrants in the city of San Luis Potosi on Tuesday, and were headed back to Mexico City’s international airport when the plane went down.
Officials said no distress call had been received and the crash appeared to be an accident, but Calderon said his administration “will carry out all the necessary investigations to find out the causes of this tragedy.”
U.S. experts from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will arrive on Wednesday to assist in the investigation, officials said.
Mexico’s fleet of government aircraft have suffered accidents in the past and the country has long said it needs new helicopters and planes to fight drug cartels. Mexico is slated to receive more helicopters and planes as part of a $400 million U.S. aid package known as the Merida Initiative approved in June, but which has not been yet released.
In 2005, a helicopter crash blamed on poor weather conditions killed Mexico’s top police official, public safety secretary Ramon Martin Huerta, the head of federal police and seven other people.
The Learjet carrying Mourino crashed on a street in the posh Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood, an area filled with tall office buildings. Officials evacuated about 1,800 people from area offices.
Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said all those aboard the plane were killed and that more people may have died on the ground. “It’s likely that we will find other bodies in the vehicles,” Ebrard told the Televisa news network.
Hundreds of police, firefighters and soldiers swarmed the scene, which was littered with the burned-out hulks of vehicles and pieces of what appeared to be bodies.
Eight bodies were recovered and at least 40 people were injured, seven of them seriously. The jet seats eight and Calderon listed eight people — including assistants and spokespeople for Mourino — but it was unclear whether all the bodies recovered were from the plane. The bodies were too badly burned to be immediately identified.
Santiago Vasconcelos, who was previously in charge of pursuing extraditions against drug traffickers, had been the target of at least one planned assassination attempt in the past.
The plane’s wreckage came to rest just yards from tall office buildings and Ebrard said many more people would almost certainly have died had the plane hit one of the towers.
Civil aviation officials were investigating the cause of the crash.
Mourino was one of the most controversial officials when he joined Calderon’s Cabinet in January because of his family’s involvement with private contracts to Mexico’s state-owned oil company, precisely at a time when Calderon sought to open up the legal framework for more such contracts.
The Mourino family’s dealing in contracts for the transport of fuel angered many here, who view the state oil company as a point of national pride and oppose any openings to private involvement in the industry.
Born in Spain and educated at the University of Tampa in Florida, some also criticized the fact that he was foreign-born, arguing he shouldn’t be able to hold one of the top Cabinet security posts.
He became a Mexican citizen about two decades ago, served as a federal legislator and went on to become Calderon’s closest adviser as head of the Office of the Presidency. He was one of the youngest men to have held the politically sensitive post of interior secretary.
Spanish firms have recently made major inroads in Mexico’s telecommunications and banking sector, drawing criticism from some Mexicans who resent the influence of the country’s former colonial master.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By MARK STEVENSON
Associated Press Writer
MEXICO CITY (AP) _ One of Mexico’s top pointmen in the war against drug trafficking died when a government jet crashed into a Mexico City street, setting fire to dozens of vehicles and dealing crusading President Felipe Calderon a serious blow.
Officials said the Tuesday crash appeared to be an accident but the loss of Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mourino, former anti-drug prosecutor Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos and six others thinned the ranks of Mexico’s already embattled leadership.
U.S. Ambassador Antonio Garza praised the two officials and suggested them as models for the fight against organized crime.
“Their dedication and commitment to accomplishing their work, especially that which strengthened our bilateral fight against those who attack the security of our two countries, certainly will be a model for all of us in a common effort that will continue to strengthen,” Garza said in a statement.
Mourino, 37, was one of President Felipe Calderon’s closest advisers but has been embroiled in scandal since taking office in the midst of Mexico’s violent fight against drug cartels. He was in charge of the country’s security.
“With his death, Mexico has lost a great Mexican, intelligent, loyal and committed to his ideals and his country,” Calderon told a news conference. “I ask all Mexicans that they don’t allow any event, no matter how difficult or painful, to weaken them in the pursuit of a better Mexico.”
Calderon has sent tens of thousands of federal police and army troops throughout Mexico to fight drug cartels that are fighting increasingly bloody turf battles and killing police officials.
Presidential spokesman Max Cortazar said Mourino and a group of advisers had attended the launching of a program to welcome returning migrants in the city of San Luis Potosi on Tuesday, and were headed back to Mexico City’s international airport when the plane went down.
Officials said no distress call had been received and the crash appeared to be an accident, but Calderon said his administration “will carry out all the necessary investigations to find out the causes of this tragedy.”
U.S. experts from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will arrive on Wednesday to assist in the investigation, officials said.
Mexico’s fleet of government aircraft have suffered accidents in the past and the country has long said it needs new helicopters and planes to fight drug cartels. Mexico is slated to receive more helicopters and planes as part of a $400 million U.S. aid package known as the Merida Initiative approved in June, but which has not been yet released.
In 2005, a helicopter crash blamed on poor weather conditions killed Mexico’s top police official, public safety secretary Ramon Martin Huerta, the head of federal police and seven other people.
The Learjet carrying Mourino crashed on a street in the posh Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood, an area filled with tall office buildings. Officials evacuated about 1,800 people from area offices.
Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said all those aboard the plane were killed and that more people may have died on the ground. “It’s likely that we will find other bodies in the vehicles,” Ebrard told the Televisa news network.
Hundreds of police, firefighters and soldiers swarmed the scene, which was littered with the burned-out hulks of vehicles and pieces of what appeared to be bodies.
Eight bodies were recovered and at least 40 people were injured, seven of them seriously. The jet seats eight and Calderon listed eight people — including assistants and spokespeople for Mourino — but it was unclear whether all the bodies recovered were from the plane. The bodies were too badly burned to be immediately identified.
Santiago Vasconcelos, who was previously in charge of pursuing extraditions against drug traffickers, had been the target of at least one planned assassination attempt in the past.
The plane’s wreckage came to rest just yards from tall office buildings and Ebrard said many more people would almost certainly have died had the plane hit one of the towers.
Civil aviation officials were investigating the cause of the crash.
Mourino was one of the most controversial officials when he joined Calderon’s Cabinet in January because of his family’s involvement with private contracts to Mexico’s state-owned oil company, precisely at a time when Calderon sought to open up the legal framework for more such contracts.
The Mourino family’s dealing in contracts for the transport of fuel angered many here, who view the state oil company as a point of national pride and oppose any openings to private involvement in the industry.
Born in Spain and educated at the University of Tampa in Florida, some also criticized the fact that he was foreign-born, arguing he shouldn’t be able to hold one of the top Cabinet security posts.
He became a Mexican citizen about two decades ago, served as a federal legislator and went on to become Calderon’s closest adviser as head of the Office of the Presidency. He was one of the youngest men to have held the politically sensitive post of interior secretary.
Spanish firms have recently made major inroads in Mexico’s telecommunications and banking sector, drawing criticism from some Mexicans who resent the influence of the country’s former colonial master.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Martinique: Human error likely in ’05 plane crash
Date: 10/9/2008 9:35 PM
By RODOLPHE LAMY
Associated Press Writer
FORT-DE-FRANCE, Martinique (AP) _ An ongoing investigation into a 2005 plane crash that killed 152 people from Martinique suggests that human error and not faulty maintenance was to blame, the island’s prosecutor told the victims’ relatives on Thursday.
One expert found that West Caribbean Airways — despite financial problems — provided regular maintenance to the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 plane that crashed three years ago, Claude Bellanger said during a meeting to update relatives on the investigation.
He said investigators believe the pilots lost speed when they tried to quickly ascend to avoid a cluster of storm clouds.
“They were in a zone … that they never should have entered,” Bellanger said.
An initial analysis of the plane’s black box recorders suggests the pilots did not react appropriately when they tried to stabilize the plane as it went into a three-minute free fall, he said.
Another expert is still analyzing whether human error played a part, Bellanger said.
Authorities have previously said the jet’s engines were running when it crashed and that the pilots had talked about weather conditions and possibly turning on the deicers.
Olivier Berisson, president of the Association of Victim’s Families, rejected Bellanger’s explanations.
“It is nonetheless surprising that there were no maintenance problems with a company that had two crashes in the same year,” he said.
A West Caribbean Airways plane crashed in March 2005 after taking off from Colombia’s Providencia Island, killing eight people. Five months later, on Aug. 16, one of its charter jets en route from Panama crashed in Venezuela, killing 160 people, the majority of whom were tourists from Martinique.
A Fort-de-France court recently ordered the airline to pay US$3.7 million to the families of 28 victims. Compensations would vary: A victim’s nephew could receive US$8,000 while a parent or child could get US$54,000.
The court also ordered an additional US$27,000 to be paid for the suffering passengers endured during the free fall.
Berisson has qualified the compensations as “completely unacceptable” and the victims’ relatives have pledged to fight for a higher amount.
Alain Manville, an attorney representing the airlines’ insurance company, has said he would likely seek an appeal.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By RODOLPHE LAMY
Associated Press Writer
FORT-DE-FRANCE, Martinique (AP) _ An ongoing investigation into a 2005 plane crash that killed 152 people from Martinique suggests that human error and not faulty maintenance was to blame, the island’s prosecutor told the victims’ relatives on Thursday.
One expert found that West Caribbean Airways — despite financial problems — provided regular maintenance to the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 plane that crashed three years ago, Claude Bellanger said during a meeting to update relatives on the investigation.
He said investigators believe the pilots lost speed when they tried to quickly ascend to avoid a cluster of storm clouds.
“They were in a zone … that they never should have entered,” Bellanger said.
An initial analysis of the plane’s black box recorders suggests the pilots did not react appropriately when they tried to stabilize the plane as it went into a three-minute free fall, he said.
Another expert is still analyzing whether human error played a part, Bellanger said.
Authorities have previously said the jet’s engines were running when it crashed and that the pilots had talked about weather conditions and possibly turning on the deicers.
Olivier Berisson, president of the Association of Victim’s Families, rejected Bellanger’s explanations.
“It is nonetheless surprising that there were no maintenance problems with a company that had two crashes in the same year,” he said.
A West Caribbean Airways plane crashed in March 2005 after taking off from Colombia’s Providencia Island, killing eight people. Five months later, on Aug. 16, one of its charter jets en route from Panama crashed in Venezuela, killing 160 people, the majority of whom were tourists from Martinique.
A Fort-de-France court recently ordered the airline to pay US$3.7 million to the families of 28 victims. Compensations would vary: A victim’s nephew could receive US$8,000 while a parent or child could get US$54,000.
The court also ordered an additional US$27,000 to be paid for the suffering passengers endured during the free fall.
Berisson has qualified the compensations as “completely unacceptable” and the victims’ relatives have pledged to fight for a higher amount.
Alain Manville, an attorney representing the airlines’ insurance company, has said he would likely seek an appeal.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Calif. hiker finds ID that appears to be Fossett’s
Date: 10/2/2008 2:29 AM
By TRACIE CONE and JULIANA BARBASSA
Associated Press Writers
MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. (AP) _ Preston Morrow was having a little adventure, wandering off-trail alone to look for a remote mine. He was scrambling down a rugged embankment Monday when he noticed some brittle, weathered identification cards scattered among the decomposing pine needles.
“JAMES STEPHEN FOSSETT,” a pilot license read.
As in Steve Fossett, who circumnavigated the globe by himself in 2002 and vanished on a solo flight in a small plane more than a year ago. The subject of untold fruitless hours of searching by teams armed with high-tech equipment and NASA-designed software.
Didn’t ring a bell.
“I have to admit the name didn’t pop into my head,” Morrow said. It wasn’t until Tuesday, when he discussed his find with co-workers at a Mammoth Lakes sporting goods store, that he realized what he might be holding.
“Oh my gosh, this is going to be huge,” Morrow remembers thinking.
A picture of the pilot license — including a certificate number and Fossett’s date of birth — was sent to the Federal Aviation Administration and matched the agency’s records, spokesman Ian Gregor said.
“We’re trying to determine the authenticity of the document,” Gregor said.
The discovery sparked a renewed search effort that resulted in the sighting by air later Wednesday of what appeared to be wreckage.
Erica Stuart, spokeswoman for the Madera County Sheriff’s Office, said a ground team was en route to the site Wednesday night, and they hope to confirm Thursday whether there is wreckage and whether it belongs to Fossett.
The intial find fired gave the widow and friends of the millionaire adventurer renewed hope.
“I am hopeful that this search will locate the crash site and my husband’s remains,” Peggy Fossett said in a statement Wednesday. “I am grateful to all of those involved in this effort.”
Morrow, an avid outdoorsman who moved to Mammoth Lakes to be closer to the mountain slopes he had skied since childhood, was west of the Sierra Nevada town when he found IDs with Fossett’s name and some scattered cash — 10 $100 bills and a $5 bill.
Fossett disappeared Sept. 3, 2007, after taking off in a single-engine plane borrowed from a Nevada ranch owned by hotel magnate Barron Hilton. A judge declared Fossett legally dead in February following a search for the famed aviator that covered 20,000 square miles.
Aviators had flown over Mammoth Lakes, about 90 miles south of the ranch, in the search, but it had not been considered a likely place to find the plane. The most intense searching was concentrated well north of the town, given what searchers knew about sightings of Fossett’s plane, his plans for when he had intended to return and the amount of fuel he had in the plane.
Search teams led by the Madera County Sheriff’s Department began combing through the loose, rugged terrain Wednesday looking for the airplane wreckage. An air effort was expected to be under way soon, said Madera County sheriff’s spokeswoman Erica Stuart.
Morrow said he found no human remains or signs of the plane when he hiked back out to the mountain slope Tuesday with his wife and three friends.
While standing on a ridge about 100 yards from where the documents were first seen, Morrow’s wife, Natalie, found a black fleece sweat shirt, Nautica brand, size XL.
“It looked like it had been there a while — it was faded out quite a bit,” Natalie Morrow said. She left the sweat shirt, but gathered GPS coordinates to guide authorities to the site.
“I’m hoping the family can know exactly what happened, so they can have some kind of closure,” she said.
Preston Morrow had wanted to contact Fossett’s family first, so he consulted local attorney David Baumwohl, and together they tried to get through to lawyers representing the missing adventurer’s kin.
“We figured if it was us, we’d want to know first. We wouldn’t want to learn from the news,” Baumwohl said.
When they did not hear back by Wednesday morning, they decided to turn everything over to the police, the attorney said.
The California Civil Air Patrol and private planes from Hilton’s ranch previously had flown over the area, but it is “extremely rough country,” said Joe Sanford, undersheriff in Lyon County, Nev., which was involved in the initial search.
Mammoth Lakes is at an elevation of more than 7,800 feet on the eastern flank of the Sierra Nevada, where peaks top 13,000 feet. This year’s biggest search for Fossett focused on Nevada’s Wassuk Range, more than 50 miles north of Mammoth Lakes. That search ended last month.
One of Fossett’s friends reacted to Wednesday’s news with cautious optimism.
If the belongings turn out to be authentic, then that could help narrow the search area for possible wreckage, said Ray Arvidson, a scientist at Washington University who worked on Fossett’s past balloon flights.
“It would be nice to get closure,” Arvidson said.
Fossett made a fortune trading futures and options on Chicago markets. He gained worldwide fame for more than 100 attempts and successes in setting records in high-tech balloons, gliders, jets and boats. In 2002, he became the first person to circle the world solo in a balloon. He was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in July 2007.
He also swam the English Channel, completed an Ironman Triathlon, competed in the Iditarod dog sled race and climbed some of the world’s best-known peaks, including the Matterhorn in Switzerland and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
___
Juliana Barbassa reported from San Francisco. Associated Press writers Jason Dearen and Malia Wollan in San Francisco, Scott Sonner in Reno, Nev., Tom Tait in Las Vegas, and Alicia Chang and Jacob Adelman in Los Angeles also contributed to this report.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Summary
By TRACIE CONE and JULIANA BARBASSA
Associated Press Writers
MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. (AP) _ Preston Morrow was having a little adventure, wandering off-trail alone to look for a remote mine. He was scrambling down a rugged embankment Monday when he noticed some brittle, weathered identification cards scattered among the decomposing pine needles.
“JAMES STEPHEN FOSSETT,” a pilot license read.
As in Steve Fossett, who circumnavigated the globe by himself in 2002 and vanished on a solo flight in a small plane more than a year ago. The subject of untold fruitless hours of searching by teams armed with high-tech equipment and NASA-designed software.
Didn’t ring a bell.
“I have to admit the name didn’t pop into my head,” Morrow said. It wasn’t until Tuesday, when he discussed his find with co-workers at a Mammoth Lakes sporting goods store, that he realized what he might be holding.
“Oh my gosh, this is going to be huge,” Morrow remembers thinking.
A picture of the pilot license — including a certificate number and Fossett’s date of birth — was sent to the Federal Aviation Administration and matched the agency’s records, spokesman Ian Gregor said.
“We’re trying to determine the authenticity of the document,” Gregor said.
The discovery sparked a renewed search effort that resulted in the sighting by air later Wednesday of what appeared to be wreckage.
Erica Stuart, spokeswoman for the Madera County Sheriff’s Office, said a ground team was en route to the site Wednesday night, and they hope to confirm Thursday whether there is wreckage and whether it belongs to Fossett.
The intial find fired gave the widow and friends of the millionaire adventurer renewed hope.
“I am hopeful that this search will locate the crash site and my husband’s remains,” Peggy Fossett said in a statement Wednesday. “I am grateful to all of those involved in this effort.”
Morrow, an avid outdoorsman who moved to Mammoth Lakes to be closer to the mountain slopes he had skied since childhood, was west of the Sierra Nevada town when he found IDs with Fossett’s name and some scattered cash — 10 $100 bills and a $5 bill.
Fossett disappeared Sept. 3, 2007, after taking off in a single-engine plane borrowed from a Nevada ranch owned by hotel magnate Barron Hilton. A judge declared Fossett legally dead in February following a search for the famed aviator that covered 20,000 square miles.
Aviators had flown over Mammoth Lakes, about 90 miles south of the ranch, in the search, but it had not been considered a likely place to find the plane. The most intense searching was concentrated well north of the town, given what searchers knew about sightings of Fossett’s plane, his plans for when he had intended to return and the amount of fuel he had in the plane.
Search teams led by the Madera County Sheriff’s Department began combing through the loose, rugged terrain Wednesday looking for the airplane wreckage. An air effort was expected to be under way soon, said Madera County sheriff’s spokeswoman Erica Stuart.
Morrow said he found no human remains or signs of the plane when he hiked back out to the mountain slope Tuesday with his wife and three friends.
While standing on a ridge about 100 yards from where the documents were first seen, Morrow’s wife, Natalie, found a black fleece sweat shirt, Nautica brand, size XL.
“It looked like it had been there a while — it was faded out quite a bit,” Natalie Morrow said. She left the sweat shirt, but gathered GPS coordinates to guide authorities to the site.
“I’m hoping the family can know exactly what happened, so they can have some kind of closure,” she said.
Preston Morrow had wanted to contact Fossett’s family first, so he consulted local attorney David Baumwohl, and together they tried to get through to lawyers representing the missing adventurer’s kin.
“We figured if it was us, we’d want to know first. We wouldn’t want to learn from the news,” Baumwohl said.
When they did not hear back by Wednesday morning, they decided to turn everything over to the police, the attorney said.
The California Civil Air Patrol and private planes from Hilton’s ranch previously had flown over the area, but it is “extremely rough country,” said Joe Sanford, undersheriff in Lyon County, Nev., which was involved in the initial search.
Mammoth Lakes is at an elevation of more than 7,800 feet on the eastern flank of the Sierra Nevada, where peaks top 13,000 feet. This year’s biggest search for Fossett focused on Nevada’s Wassuk Range, more than 50 miles north of Mammoth Lakes. That search ended last month.
One of Fossett’s friends reacted to Wednesday’s news with cautious optimism.
If the belongings turn out to be authentic, then that could help narrow the search area for possible wreckage, said Ray Arvidson, a scientist at Washington University who worked on Fossett’s past balloon flights.
“It would be nice to get closure,” Arvidson said.
Fossett made a fortune trading futures and options on Chicago markets. He gained worldwide fame for more than 100 attempts and successes in setting records in high-tech balloons, gliders, jets and boats. In 2002, he became the first person to circle the world solo in a balloon. He was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in July 2007.
He also swam the English Channel, completed an Ironman Triathlon, competed in the Iditarod dog sled race and climbed some of the world’s best-known peaks, including the Matterhorn in Switzerland and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
___
Juliana Barbassa reported from San Francisco. Associated Press writers Jason Dearen and Malia Wollan in San Francisco, Scott Sonner in Reno, Nev., Tom Tait in Las Vegas, and Alicia Chang and Jacob Adelman in Los Angeles also contributed to this report.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Summary
Spanish judge orders plane crash site cleanup
Date: 9/25/2008 12:36 PM
By DANIEL WOOLLS
Associated Press Writer
MADRID, Spain (AP) _ A Spanish judge on Thursday ordered a cleanup of the site of last month’s plane crash in Madrid in which 154 people died, after a newspaper ran photos of clothes and personal effects still strewn on the ground there.
The photos in El Mundo show a red-and-yellow Spanish soccer jersey and other items of clothing in at least one area of the crash site. A story accompanying the shots said there are also scorched books, muddied photos and many other personal effects that spilled out of the Spanair MD-82′s cargo holds.
El Mundo said the photos were taken Wednesday, more than a month after the Aug. 20 crash of the plane, which was bound for the Canary Islands.
Judge Juan Javier Perez, who is leading into a probe into the possibility of criminal liability in the accident, said the general state of the site “apparently … does not correspond” with the pictures in El Mundo, according to a statement released by the Madrid Superior Court of Justice.
The Development Ministry, which overseas a civil aviation panel staging a separate probe on what caused the accident, said that from the time of the crash until Sept. 12, the judge had barred crews from removing any personal effects from the crash site. It said this was to allow experts combing through the wreckage to do their work.
On Sept. 12 the judge lifted this ban, but Spanair immediately asked him to reinstate it so the company could have an expert of its own examine the site, and the judge agreed, a ministry official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with ministry rules.
Perez has now ordered a cleanup because that examination by Spanair has concluded, the court statement said.
The Spanair plane crashed on takeoff, hitting the ground tail-first and bouncing three times as it skidded across a grassy area next to the runway, then exploded in flames and largely disintegrated.
No cause has been established, but a preliminary report by the crash probe panel says the plane tried to take off without deploying its wing flaps — which provide extra lift on takeoff — and the pilot did not know this because a cockpit alarm that was supposed to warn of this problem failed to go off.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By DANIEL WOOLLS
Associated Press Writer
MADRID, Spain (AP) _ A Spanish judge on Thursday ordered a cleanup of the site of last month’s plane crash in Madrid in which 154 people died, after a newspaper ran photos of clothes and personal effects still strewn on the ground there.
The photos in El Mundo show a red-and-yellow Spanish soccer jersey and other items of clothing in at least one area of the crash site. A story accompanying the shots said there are also scorched books, muddied photos and many other personal effects that spilled out of the Spanair MD-82′s cargo holds.
El Mundo said the photos were taken Wednesday, more than a month after the Aug. 20 crash of the plane, which was bound for the Canary Islands.
Judge Juan Javier Perez, who is leading into a probe into the possibility of criminal liability in the accident, said the general state of the site “apparently … does not correspond” with the pictures in El Mundo, according to a statement released by the Madrid Superior Court of Justice.
The Development Ministry, which overseas a civil aviation panel staging a separate probe on what caused the accident, said that from the time of the crash until Sept. 12, the judge had barred crews from removing any personal effects from the crash site. It said this was to allow experts combing through the wreckage to do their work.
On Sept. 12 the judge lifted this ban, but Spanair immediately asked him to reinstate it so the company could have an expert of its own examine the site, and the judge agreed, a ministry official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with ministry rules.
Perez has now ordered a cleanup because that examination by Spanair has concluded, the court statement said.
The Spanair plane crashed on takeoff, hitting the ground tail-first and bouncing three times as it skidded across a grassy area next to the runway, then exploded in flames and largely disintegrated.
No cause has been established, but a preliminary report by the crash probe panel says the plane tried to take off without deploying its wing flaps — which provide extra lift on takeoff — and the pilot did not know this because a cockpit alarm that was supposed to warn of this problem failed to go off.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Feds: Doomed crew in SC crash thought tire blew
Date: 9/21/2008 6:33 PM
By MEG KINNARD
Associated Press Writer
WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The doomed crew piloting a Learjet that crashed on takeoff, killing four people and injuring two popular musicians, thought a tire blew as they hurtled down the runway and struggled unsuccessfully to stop the plane, a federal safety official said Sunday.
National Transportation Safety Board member Debbie Hersman said a cockpit voice recording of the Friday night crash indicates the crew tried to abort the takeoff, but then signaled the efforts were failing.
“The crew reacted to a sound that was consistent with a tire blowout,” Hersman said.
Former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and celebrity disc jockey DJ AM remained in critical but stable condition Sunday; one of their doctors said he expected them to fully recover.
Two of the musicians’ close friends and the plane’s pilot and co-pilot were killed when it shot off the end of the runway, ripped through a fence and crossed a highway. It came to rest on an embankment a quarter-mile from the end of the runway, engulfed in flames.
Hersman said no cause of the crash has been determined and the investigation is ongoing. She did say that pieces of tire were recovered about 2,800 feet from where the plane started its takeoff. The runway is 8,600 feet long.
The plane was traveling at least 92 mph, its minimum takeoff speed, when the crew thought the tire burst, Hersman said.
One aviation expert said the crew would have had just moments to abort or lift off because such a Learjet needs more than 5,000 feet of runway to get in the air. If the plane hit about 138 mph, which can happen quickly during takeoff, the crew would have run out of runway, said Mary Schiavo, former inspector general for the federal Transportation Department.
“If you have to abort a takeoff because of a problem with the plane, you don’t have a lot of runway left because it uses up so much just on its takeoff roll,” Schiavo said.
The jet, which was headed for Van Nuys, Calif., is owned by Global Exec Aviation, a California-based charter company, and was certified to operate last year, Hersman said.
Pilot Sarah Lemmon, 31, of Anaheim Hills, Calif., and co-pilot James Bland, 52, of Carlsbad, Calif., died in the crash. Also killed were Chris Baker, 29, of Studio City, Calif., and Charles Still, 25, of Los Angeles. Baker was an assistant to Barker and Still was a security guard for the musician.
Investigators said they want to speak with Barker and Goldstein for their accounts of the crash, including how they survived. One witness said he discovered the musicians in the street near the fiery wreck as they frantically tried to douse their burning clothes.
Hersman said officials will give the men more time to recuperate. “They’re the ones that are going to be able to give us the best firsthand knowledge,” she said.
Dr. Fred Mullins, medical director of the Joseph M. Still Burn Center, said the two suffered second- and third-degree burns but had no other injuries from the crash and are in overall good health.
“Anybody who can survive a plane crash is pretty lucky,” Mullins told reporters during a news conference Sunday morning.
Barker was burned on his torso and lower body and DJ AM, whose real name is Adam Goldstein, was burned on an arm and a portion of his scalp, according to a statement from the musicians’ families released by the hospital. Such injuries can take a year to fully heal, however Mullins said he didn’t think it would take that long.
Several fans visited the hospital over the weekend. One carried a sign that read: “Get Well Travis.”
“I was just shocked when I first heard it and I knew that I had to do something,” said Ryan Meadows, a 19-year-old college student from Augusta.
Barker and Goldstein had performed a together under the name TRVSDJ-AM at a free concert in Columbia on Friday night. The show, which included performances by former Jane’s Addiction singer Perry Farrell and singer Gavin DeGraw, drew about 10,000 people to a neighborhood near the University of South Carolina.
Barker, 32, was one of the more colorful members of the multiplatinum-selling punk rock band Blink-182, whose biggest album was 1999′s CD “Enema of the State” and sold more than 5 million copies in the United States alone.
After Blink-182 disbanded in 2005, Barker went on to form the rock band (+44) — pronounced “plus forty-four.” He also starred in the MTV reality series “Meet the Barkers” with his then-wife, former Miss USA Shanna Moakler. The show documented the former couple’s lavish wedding and home life. Their later split, reconciliation and subsequent breakup made them tabloid favorites.
Goldstein, 35, is a popular DJ for hire who at one time was engaged to Nicole Richie and dated singer/actress Mandy Moore. While he became a gossip favorite for his romances, he draws respect from music aficionados for his DJ skills.
Barker and Goldstein performed as part of the house band at the MTV Video Music Awards earlier this month.
Associated Press Writer Page Ivey in Augusta, Ga., contributed to this report.
On the Net:
http://www.djam.com/
http://www.gavindegraw.com/
http://www.blink182.com/
http://www.helicopter-law.com
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By MEG KINNARD
Associated Press Writer
WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The doomed crew piloting a Learjet that crashed on takeoff, killing four people and injuring two popular musicians, thought a tire blew as they hurtled down the runway and struggled unsuccessfully to stop the plane, a federal safety official said Sunday.
National Transportation Safety Board member Debbie Hersman said a cockpit voice recording of the Friday night crash indicates the crew tried to abort the takeoff, but then signaled the efforts were failing.
“The crew reacted to a sound that was consistent with a tire blowout,” Hersman said.
Former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and celebrity disc jockey DJ AM remained in critical but stable condition Sunday; one of their doctors said he expected them to fully recover.
Two of the musicians’ close friends and the plane’s pilot and co-pilot were killed when it shot off the end of the runway, ripped through a fence and crossed a highway. It came to rest on an embankment a quarter-mile from the end of the runway, engulfed in flames.
Hersman said no cause of the crash has been determined and the investigation is ongoing. She did say that pieces of tire were recovered about 2,800 feet from where the plane started its takeoff. The runway is 8,600 feet long.
The plane was traveling at least 92 mph, its minimum takeoff speed, when the crew thought the tire burst, Hersman said.
One aviation expert said the crew would have had just moments to abort or lift off because such a Learjet needs more than 5,000 feet of runway to get in the air. If the plane hit about 138 mph, which can happen quickly during takeoff, the crew would have run out of runway, said Mary Schiavo, former inspector general for the federal Transportation Department.
“If you have to abort a takeoff because of a problem with the plane, you don’t have a lot of runway left because it uses up so much just on its takeoff roll,” Schiavo said.
The jet, which was headed for Van Nuys, Calif., is owned by Global Exec Aviation, a California-based charter company, and was certified to operate last year, Hersman said.
Pilot Sarah Lemmon, 31, of Anaheim Hills, Calif., and co-pilot James Bland, 52, of Carlsbad, Calif., died in the crash. Also killed were Chris Baker, 29, of Studio City, Calif., and Charles Still, 25, of Los Angeles. Baker was an assistant to Barker and Still was a security guard for the musician.
Investigators said they want to speak with Barker and Goldstein for their accounts of the crash, including how they survived. One witness said he discovered the musicians in the street near the fiery wreck as they frantically tried to douse their burning clothes.
Hersman said officials will give the men more time to recuperate. “They’re the ones that are going to be able to give us the best firsthand knowledge,” she said.
Dr. Fred Mullins, medical director of the Joseph M. Still Burn Center, said the two suffered second- and third-degree burns but had no other injuries from the crash and are in overall good health.
“Anybody who can survive a plane crash is pretty lucky,” Mullins told reporters during a news conference Sunday morning.
Barker was burned on his torso and lower body and DJ AM, whose real name is Adam Goldstein, was burned on an arm and a portion of his scalp, according to a statement from the musicians’ families released by the hospital. Such injuries can take a year to fully heal, however Mullins said he didn’t think it would take that long.
Several fans visited the hospital over the weekend. One carried a sign that read: “Get Well Travis.”
“I was just shocked when I first heard it and I knew that I had to do something,” said Ryan Meadows, a 19-year-old college student from Augusta.
Barker and Goldstein had performed a together under the name TRVSDJ-AM at a free concert in Columbia on Friday night. The show, which included performances by former Jane’s Addiction singer Perry Farrell and singer Gavin DeGraw, drew about 10,000 people to a neighborhood near the University of South Carolina.
Barker, 32, was one of the more colorful members of the multiplatinum-selling punk rock band Blink-182, whose biggest album was 1999′s CD “Enema of the State” and sold more than 5 million copies in the United States alone.
After Blink-182 disbanded in 2005, Barker went on to form the rock band (+44) — pronounced “plus forty-four.” He also starred in the MTV reality series “Meet the Barkers” with his then-wife, former Miss USA Shanna Moakler. The show documented the former couple’s lavish wedding and home life. Their later split, reconciliation and subsequent breakup made them tabloid favorites.
Goldstein, 35, is a popular DJ for hire who at one time was engaged to Nicole Richie and dated singer/actress Mandy Moore. While he became a gossip favorite for his romances, he draws respect from music aficionados for his DJ skills.
Barker and Goldstein performed as part of the house band at the MTV Video Music Awards earlier this month.
Associated Press Writer Page Ivey in Augusta, Ga., contributed to this report.
On the Net:
http://www.djam.com/
http://www.gavindegraw.com/
http://www.blink182.com/
http://www.helicopter-law.com
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.