The charter jet that crashed in Akron on Tuesday appeared to be doing everything correctly until the final minutes of its flight. All nine aboard were killed. Officials of the National Transportation Safety Board are not giving details about what was on the cockpit voice recorder. Ideastream’s Mark Urycki reports. Mark Urycki reports.
The 10 seat Hawker 700 jet was following the proper flight vector for its approach to Akron Fulton airport, its flaps were extended and the landing gear was down. The Vice Chairman of the NTSB, Bella Dihn-Zarr, says they listened to the cockpit voice recorder Wednesday night but she’s not telling what the crew may have said in the final minutes.
“On the recording the crew discussed the localizer approach procedures to runway 25 at Akron Fulton International. The crew also discussed weather conditions as being wind from 240 degrees at 8 knots, 1.5 miles visibility and 600 feet overcast. The sounds of the impact were recorded on the CVR.”
Dihn-Zarr says the 2 crew members held the highest certification from the FAA.
“And both pilots were qualified in this craft. As of the time of their last medical certifications the pilot had over 6,000 hours of flight time and the co-pilot had 4500 hours of flight time.”
The jet did not have a flight recorder but investigators are searching for the jet’s ground proximity warning system.
It was the worst air crash in Summit County, Medical Examiner Lisa Kohler says they have removed all the bodies . .
“We’ve had other fatality situations where we had to work through identification processes. This is something we have a plan in place for and a methodical way to deal with the problems that are posed by making identifications. ”
The aircraft erupted in flames when it hit an apartment building but investigators say much of the fuselage remained intact.