NTSB inspectors look over the plane  ALSO: Amid chaos of shattered plane, passengers aided in rescue Investigators look at weather's role in Arkansas crash College choir group on Arkansas jet performed for Kosovars INTERACTIVE Scenes from the crash aftermath Most recent U.S. crashes  MESSAGE BOARD: Air Safety American Airlines hot line: American Airlines has set up a hot line for people seeking information about the condition of passengers on Flight 1420: 1-800-245-0999 RELATED VIDEO CNN has created an animation illustrating how the plane may have crashed. It shows the plane sliding down the runway. Windows Media 28K 80K 623 K / 6 sec. QuickTime movie Please enable Javascript CNN's Aram Roston talks with survivors of the crash Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K See up close views of the crash scene Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K 183 K / 38 sec. / 240x180 QuickTime movie Please enable Javascript

June 3, 1999
Web posted at: 2:29 p.m. EDT (1829 GMT)

In this story: Investigators looking at runway design, crew schedule NTSB hopes to interview co-pilot Thursday RELATED STORIES, SITES

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (CNN) -- Flight recorders show that the pilot of American Airlines Flight 1420 had received up-to-date weather information when he decided to land in a violent thunderstorm, a federal official said Thursday.

Now, investigators are waiting to get authorization from doctors to talk to the injured co-pilot to see what he can tell them about the final moments of the flight. The plane touched down and went out of control.

"We do know now from listening to the tapes of the radio transmissions between the tower and the flight crew that they were being given timely information about the rather dynamic weather conditions that were evolving there," National Transportation Safety Board member George W. Black Jr. told CNN.

Investigators began analyzing information from the flight recorders Wednesday and expected to release some of their findings Thursday.

Nine of the 145 people on board, including pilot Richard Buschmann, were killed when the McDonnell Douglas Super 80 skidded the length of the 7,200-foot runway and slammed into a steel light tower during the rapidly developing storm just before midnight Tuesday.

The storm unleashed hail, lightning and wind gusts to 75 mph in the area in the minutes before the crash. A gust of 87 mph was recorded at Little Rock National Airport shortly after the crash.

Black said that the crew makes the final decision on whether to land.

"They knew that (conditions) were changing and, of course, it's ultimately pilot discretion if the airport is open, so it was up to the crew to evaluate what they were seeing," Black said.

Black also said investigators are looking at the groovings across the runway, designed mainly to prevent a plane from hydroplaning, as well as the runway drainage system and the issue of structures near the runway.

In addition, investigators will consider that the crew had been on duty for 13 1/2 hours, just short of the airline's maximum of 14. They were on the last leg of a flight schedule that started in Chicago and stopped in Salt Lake City and Dallas before ending in Little Rock.

Capt. Buschmann was a veteran American pilot with 5,500 hours of flight time in the MD-80 series of aircraft, which includes the MD-82. As a chief pilot in American's Chicago operation, he supervised other pilots and flew passenger planes for two months each year.

NTSB investigators hoped to talk to First Officer Michael Origel Thursday but were waiting for a doctor's authorization. Investigators said they'd like to interview all 136 survivors from the crash as well as the two air traffic controllers who were on duty at the time.

An inspector examines the wreckage on Thursday

They also plan to analyze tapes of the Doppler radar system at the airport that will help spell out what weather conditions were at the time of the crash.

The aircraft wound up 150 yards from the Arkansas River, where passengers, some drenched in aviation fuel, slogged through mud and weeds to safety.

The impact on the left side of the cockpit killed Buschmann at the controls, then peeled away the airplane's metal skin down the left side of the first-class section. The back section of the plane whipped around and broke away from the front half as the plane went over a levee and struck the light rigging.

Fuel spilling from the broken fuselage ignited a fire that burned about a third of the jet. Hospitals said they treated 83 people for injuries.

Some escaped through cracks in the fuselage and others through emergency doors so crumpled that only one person could slip out at a time.

The fatalities were the first aboard a U.S. carrier in nearly a year and a half. They also were the first in a commercial carrier at Little Rock's airport in its 82-year history.

Correspondents Tony Clark and Susan Candiotti contributed to this report.

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