ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 3, 1997 TAG: 9701030101
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: GREENSBORO, N.C.
SOURCE: Associated Press
Federal investigators studying a cargo plane crash that killed six people near Narrows, Va., have not found any indication of mechanical or hydraulic failure, an official said Thursday.
The Airborne Express DC-8 crashed into a mountain about a half-hour into a test flight out of Greensboro on Dec. 22.
Triad International Maintenance Corp. of Greensboro was completing a six-month overhaul of the 29-year-old jet from passenger to cargo service for an Airborne Express affiliate in Wilmington, Ohio.
TIMCO officials said Thursday that the National Transportation Safety Board had found no indication that TIMCO's work caused any mechanical or hydraulic system problems.
An NTSB investigator who did not want his name used confirmed the statement by TIMCO, but he cautioned that the investigation was continuing.
``I don't think it's fair to characterize us as coming to any conclusions,'' the official said.
``We're not ready to conclude anything yet. We're not ready to go into anything regarding probable cause.''
The NTSB official did say that investigators had completed the preliminary field investigation. He also confirmed that discrepancies found during an initial test flight on Dec. 21 - including a leak in the hydraulic system controlling the landing gear under the plane's nose - were corrected by TIMCO before the second flight.
The official said investigators still were compiling reports on several aspects of the crash investigation, including weather and the plane's performance.
``It would be fair to say that the focus of the investigation is on operational aspects, and that would not include TIMCO,'' said Matthew Furman, an NTSB spokesman in Washington, D.C.
LENGTH: Short : 44 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB