- Title: ITALY: INVESTIGATION OF CRASHED SCANDINAVIAN AIRLINES SYSTEM JET BEGINS
- Date: 10th October 2001
- Summary: (U4) MILAN, ITALY (OCTOBER 8, 2001) (REUTERS) 1. SLV/MV WORKERS MOVING PLANE WRECKAGE; SLV TAIL OF SAS PLANE BEING MOVED BY CRANE; RESCUE WORKERS PLACING CORPSE ON AIRPORT BUS; MV SECURITY AT GATE, FIRE CREWS CARRYING STRETCHER TO BUS; SLV CORPSE PUT ON BUS, EMERGENCY VEHICLES AT SITE (11 SHOTS) 1.14 (U4) MILAN, ITALY (OCTOBER 9, 2001) (REUTERS) 2. SLV SCANDINAVIAN AIRLINES (SAS) CHAIRMAN AND CEO JORGEN LINDEGAARD ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE 1.21 3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) JORGEN LINDEGAARD SAYING "We can not elaborate on the technical items at the airport. We know that this is under investiagion and we want to wait for any reports that come out. We want to emphasise that we have no reason to believe that we should not be able to fly safely into Milan with or without the ground radar." 1.50 (U5) MILAN, ITALY (OCTOBER 9, 2001) (REUTERS) 4. SLV/MV DAMAGED HANGAR; FIREMEN SEARCHING FOR BODIES; DEBRIS; FIREMEN SEARCHING DEBRIS; SLV DAMAGED HANGAR; SLV CRANE ARRIVING; FIREMEN AT WORK; SLV NOSE OF WRECKED PLANE; SLV DAMAGED HANGAR (11 SHOTS) 2.35 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 25th October 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: MILAN, ITALY
- Country: Italy
- Reuters ID: LVA860A68SV2I7486ERCR9HSW859
- Story Text: Aviation investigators are probing Italy's worst civil
aviation to pin down the cause and possible legal
responsibility for a disaster that killed 118 at Milan's
Linate airport, where the old ground radar system was retired
two years ago, according to officials.
Firemen and officials are continuing work at the crash site,
trying to recover missing bodies and to gather clues for the
investigation.
The Scandinavian Airlines System jet bound for
Copenhagen collided with a light plane in heavy fog on Monday
(October 8) morning, crashed into a hanger and exploded into
flames.
The SAS plane, a 10-year-old McDonnell Douglas fully laden
with fuel, spun out of control, lost an engine and a wing,
slid across the grass and hit three airport buildings before
ramming into a baggage handling hangar and bursting into
flames.
All 110 people on the SAS MD-87, all four people on the
Cessna plane and four cargo handlers in the baggage zone were
killed.
The remains of the planes as well as the damaged hangar
were still being inspected by officials on Tuesday (October 9)
and will be object of a full investigation into the accident.
Firemen were working at the crash site to recover missing
bodies and 111 of the 118 presumed dead have been extracted
from the ruins.
While it appeared certain that the pilot of the small
plane was at fault for making a wrong turn, some laid the
blame on bureaucracy that has delayed the implementation of a
new ground radar system.
The old ground radar system at Linate, an airport often
shrouded in early morning fog, was retired some two years ago
and although a new system was installed soon afterwards it has
never been operational because of various problems.
At a news conference held in Milan on Tuesday, SAS
President and CEO Jorgen Lindegaard would not comment directly
on the missing radar.
"We can not elaborate on the technical items at the
airport. We know that this is under investiagion and we want
to wait for any reports that come out," he said.
"We want to emphasise that we have no reason to believe
that we should not be able to fly safely into Milan with or
without the ground radar," Lindegaard said.
The ground radar, known as Aerodrome Surveillance
Monitoring Indicator (ASMI), allows the control tower to keep
track of movements of vehicles on the ground.
The situation on Monday was complicated by fog which left
a visibility of about 100 metres (yards), making it difficult
for the control tower to keep track of planes on the gound
without the radar.
SAS flight SK 686 was carrying 56 Italians and 48 other
foreign nationals as well as six crew.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None