Jet Crashes On Landing -- Fatalities Reported As Plane Breaks Apart; Captain Among Dead

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - An American Airlines flight with 145 people aboard skidded off a runway while landing during a gusty hailstorm, broke apart and burst into flames. Three sources familiar with the investigation said nine people were known to have died.

The deaths in the crash just before midnight last night were the first on a major U.S. airline in nearly 1 1/2 years.

After sliding down the rain-slickened runway in winds gusting to nearly 90 mph, the twin-engine Super MD-80 slammed into a steel light tower, split into pieces, caught fire and wound up on the edge of the Arkansas River.

As flames spread through the plane, some passengers squeezed one by one through an emergency exit while others escaped through openings created when the plane's fuselage fractured. They scrambled away from the plane across lowlands near the river in darkness, rain and hail.

"We grabbed each other and ran away," said Missy Lewis, traveling with her husband and teenage daughter.

Sources familiar with the investigation said authorities could account for nine deaths in the crash of Flight 1420 from Dallas.

The pilot, Capt. Richard Buschmann, was among those who died, and the first officer, Michael Origel, had a broken leg, the airline said. One flight attendant had a broken leg and another had hip or pelvic injuries. Two others escaped injury.

The captain of the Super MD-80 had accumulated 9,600 flight hours and had flown for American since 1979, Baker said. The captain had 5,500 flight hours on MD-80s and was qualified to check other American pilots on their handling of that aircraft, said American spokeswoman Andrea Rader.

The captain's name was not immediately released, but American said he was the airline's chief pilot in Chicago.

At least 83 people were injured and taken to hospitals. Fifty-one others did not require hospital treatment. Two people were not immediately accounted for.

"You don't know if anyone on impact was thrown into the swamp," American Airlines spokesman John Hotard said.

Barrett Baber, a student at Ouachita Baptist University at Arkadelphia, Ark., said the plane made a fast approach to the airport as lightning raged. Hail pelted him once he got out, he said.

"The plane was going so fast, when we hit the ground, we went off the end of the runway," Baber said at a combination theater and aerospace museum near the airport where survivors were taken to meet with families and friends. "We hit a huge pole, and it split the plane in half. A fire started at the front of the plane and spread back.

Sam Snowden, a district fire chief, said the plane hit a steel tower supporting the runway's approach lights and broke in two. He said firefighters used foam to put out the fire and used chisels to free some passengers from the wreckage.

Airport spokesman Phillip Launius said the plane rotated about 150 degrees as it skidded down the runway, left the pavement and hit the light standard. It stopped with its tail facing away from the runway.

"Once the smoke got too thick, there was nothing we could do. People were screaming, `God, please save us!' " Baber said.

"We landed, the plane started skidding, and then flames, flames," added passenger David Stanley, who was not hurt. "I remember flames and flames."

Those taken to hospitals had injuries that included burns and cuts.

"Some of them were limping and had bandages on their heads," said Mark Washington, a security guard at Southwest Hospital. "They looked shocked and dazed . . . aviation fuel, I could smell it on them."

The flight had 139 passengers and six crew members and was due to arrive at 9:41 p.m. It was delayed for more than two hours and arrived just as the storm was hitting Little Rock with lightning, hail and high winds.

"I think it was a big crosswind," said Richard Klamm, 49, of Pine Bluff, Ark., a passenger in the first-class section. "I think the pilot just lost control of the plane."

American Airlines' chief pilot said he would not have tried to land the plane if wind speeds exceeded 57.5 mph.

"If someone told me there were 50-knot gusts at the airport, I would be leaving town," Cecil Ewell said at a news conference at Fort Worth, Texas. Ewell oversees all of American Airlines' pilots.

The National Weather Service said it warned the tower about the approaching storm. Baker said that weather dispatches were relayed to the flight crew.

Launius said it was unclear if weather contributed to the crash. "There was a very heavy storm at the time. We don't know if that was a factor."

The flight-data and cockpit-voice recorders have been removed from the plane and were being brought to National Transportation Safety Board headquarters in Washington for analysis, a source said.

William Shumann, a spokesman with the Federal Aviation Administration, said there was no distress call from the cockpit before the landing.

Baber, the college student, was on the plane with other members of the Ouachita Singers flying home from a tour of Germany.

Baber, seated in Row 30, said the flames were within 15 feet of him by the time he got out 30 seconds after the landing. Some passengers getting off the plane found themselves in waist-deep water.

"There was panic, craziness, there were flames," Baber said. "The emergency door was cracked, and people were able to get out only one at a time."

A check of the plane's maintenance records revealed no major problems. Twelve years ago, the plane lost power in one of its engines during a landing in Las Vegas because the housing around a part had worn away.

In a statement, President Clinton said he and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton were saddened to learn of the crash.

"We join the American people in extending our deepest sympathies to the families of those who died or were injured," Clinton said.

The deaths are the first in a U.S. commercial airline accident since Dec. 28, 1997, when a woman was killed aboard a United Airlines 747 that encountered severe turbulence over the Pacific.

Last year, U.S. aviation officials celebrated a fatality-free year aboard scheduled U.S. commercial flights. U.S. airlines also had one of their safest years ever in 1997, a year after one of the deadliest on record.

There were 342 deaths on major American air carriers in 1996, which included 230 people who died in the explosion of TWA flight 800 leaving New York and 110 killed when a ValuJet plunged into the Florida Everglades.

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Recent fatal crashes.

The most recent fatal crashes involving U.S. airliners with more than 30 seats before last night's crash:

July 17, 1996: A TWA 747 explodes near East Moriches, N.Y., shortly after takeoff, killing 230 people.

May 11, 1996: A ValuJet DC-9 crashes in the Florida Everglades after takeoff, killing 110 people.

Dec. 20, 1995: An American Airlines 757 crashes in Cali, Colombia, upon approach, killing 152 passengers.

Oct. 31, 1994: An American Eagle ATR-72 crashes in Roselawn, Ind., after circling in icy weather, killing 64 passengers.

Sept. 8, 1994: A USAir 737 crashes in Aliquippa, Pa., upon approach, killing 127 passengers.

July 2, 1994: A USAir DC-9 crashes in Charlotte, N.C., upon approach, killing 37 passengers.

March 22, 1992: A USAir Fokker 28 crashes in Flushing, N.Y., upon takeoff, killing 25 passengers.

March 3, 1991: A United Airlines 737 in Colorado Springs, Colo., crashes on approach, killing 20 passengers.

Feb. 1, 1991: A USAir 737 hits another plane in Los Angeles upon landing, killing 20 passengers.