Survivors Tell Of Flames And Terror

FARO, Portugal - Survivors of Martinair Flight 495 sat in a hotel bar today, trying to piece together the crash: the violence of the storm they tried to land in, the terror of flames and dense smoke, the screams of panic.

Fifty-four people died yesterday when the chartered DC-10 jet, carrying 340 people from Amsterdam broke apart and burst into flames at the airport in Faro, a popular beach resort.

Portuguese and Dutch investigators examined the crash site today, a Martinair official, Francisco Gomez said. Investigators from General Electric Co. were checking the plane's three engines to determine if power failed before the crash, he said.

Officials from the plane's manufacturer, McDonnell Douglas Corp., were also on the scene, airport director Seruca Salgado said.

HARROWING MINUTES

Survivors in the bar, talking in small groups, patched together details of the harrowing minutes surrounding the crash.

Wim Kodman, a 27-year-old botanist from Utrecht, said he tried to calm a friend as the jet flew through turbulence before the accident.

"I told him, `I'm a scientist - we're objective,' " Kodman said. "I told him a crash was improbable. I was trying to remember the exact probability when we smashed into the ground."

Most of the passengers were Dutch vacationers, but at least two Americans were aboard. Pamela Lewis, 34, of Wilmington, Del., said that if it weren't for her dog, Sikka, a 50-pound mixed black Labrador and Newfoundland, she wouldn't have escaped.

Because she arrived late for the flight with the dog, she was put in front, the least damaged part of the plane, she said. And because she was holding Sikka under her seat as the plane approached for landing, she was already doubled over in a protective crouch when the aircraft crashed.

A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said a second American, identified as Mr. Tamarin, was also on the flight, but his full name and condition were not immediately available.

The plane was attempting to land when its wing hit the runway and the aircraft cracked in two.

Dutch television quoted the plane's co-pilot, H.W. van Staveren, as saying: "I felt a gust of wind, heard an explosion and lost control of the plane."

Investigators said they expected to release preliminary findings today on the cause of the crash.

RECORDERS RECOVERED

For the time being, they would only cite poor weather conditions as a factor. The badly damaged flight-voice and data recorders were recovered and sent to specialists in Britain and the United States, officials said.,

A team of Dutch burn specialists was arranging to fly some of the injured back to Holland for treatment today while Dutch national police experts began work to identify bodies.

Officials planned to fly most survivors to the Netherlands today.