Rescuers search smoldering jet wreckage in Guam for survivors
Of 254 people on board, 33 found alive
Latest developments:
August 5, 1997
- Some survivors critically injured
- Pilot: 'Something wrong'
- Fuel pipeline reported near crash site
- Tower lost contact at 1:50 a.m.
- Part of landing system wasn't working
Web posted at: 9:18 p.m. EDT (0118 GMT)AGANA, Guam (CNN) -- Thirty-three people were hospitalized after a Korean Air jumbo jet crashed Wednesday morning on Guam in rugged countryside and burst into flames when it struck a fuel pipeline.
Although two South Korean officials reported that as many as 50 people had survived from among the 254 people aboard, U.S. Navy officials in Washington said they believed only 33 left the wreckage alive.
Survivors of Korean Air crash
The crash scene
890K/15 sec. QuickTime movie
That includes five survivors who were trapped and had to be extricated with the use of heavy equipment brought in by the U.S. Naval Construction Battalion, or Seabees.
Fourteen survivors were taken to Guam Memorial Hospital and 19 to the U.S. Naval Hospital. Officials said some of the people were critically injured and might not live.
Those hospitalized were treated for smoke inhalation, burns, trauma and broken limbs, according to the wife of one of the emergency-room physicians.
Flight 801, a Boeing 747-300 en route to Guam from Seoul, South Korea, was carrying 231 passengers, most of them Korean tourists, and a crew of 23. Of the 21 non-Korean passengers, the airline said, 14 were American.
Also aboard was Shin Ki-ha, a four-term South Korean lawmaker and former parliamentary leader of the main opposition National Congress for New Politics. With him were his wife and about 20 party members.
Pilot: 'Something wrong'
A report from Washington indicated the pilot radioed the airport tower that there was a fire on board, and declared an emergency. But military officials said they had not been able to confirm that report from the U.S. Pacific Command.
However, the Korean Broadcasting System, quoting air controllers in Guam, said the captain of the Korean airliner said the words "Something wrong" shortly before he lost contact with them.
U.S. Navy personnel recovered the flight data recorder, also known as a "black box," from the wreckage.
At least one witness claimed to have seen an explosion before the crash.
"There was a big ball of fire just before the crash," said Rudy Delos-Santos, a reporter at radio station KOKU who lives near the crash site. "The plane plowed through the jungle for a minute or so before it came to a rest."
Delos-Santos said he went to the scene and got within about 80 or 90 yards of the wreckage before law enforcement officials stopped him.
"The fire was still going, and I could see the silhouettes of bodies in and around the plane," he said. "It was like a giant bonfire."
Also among the first on the scene was Guam's governor, Carl T.C. Gutierrez, who lives only a few miles away from the crash site. He began pulling crying survivors out.
"It was eerie. As I got close to the scene I could hear the screams," he said. "We only had a single flashlight. We had to follow the sounds to find them."
Among the survivors he pulled from the plane was an
11-year-old Japanese girl he found trying to tend to a critically injured flight attendant. The girl suffered only cuts and bruises."I had to go to the hospital with her," Gutierrez said. "She wouldn't let my hand go."
Fuel pipeline reported near crash site
Emily Lumagui of radio KUAM told CNN that a fuel pipeline leading to Anderson Air Force Base was located near the crash site. There were reports of a fuel spill near the wreckage, but it was unclear if the fuel was from the pipeline or from the plane. It also was unclear whether fires burning at the scene involved burning fuel.
Civilian and U.S. military rescuers were hampered by darkness, rain, fires and rugged terrain that includes sharp, 8-foot-high grass and thick mud. Lumagui told CNN it had been raining on Guam for 12 hours before the crash.
A massive rescue effort was launched immediately after the crash was reported, and included U.S. helicopters and bulldozers.
The smoldering wreckage lay halfway down a deep ravine, spewing white smoke into the air. Dozens of fires burned, and rescue workers were forced to descend the steep slope while clinging to a rope or had to be flown in by helicopter.
Tower lost contact at 1:50 a.m.
Two Navy CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters, whose pilots were wearing night-vision goggles, took at least 30 survivors to a hospital.
Navy construction crews moved in backhoes to crack open the fuselage and try to rescue anyone who might still be alive. Witnesses said workers had to take breaks to get fresh air, because the smell of burned fuel and flesh was unbearable.
The airport control tower lost contact with the plane around 1:50 a.m. Wednesday (11:50 a.m. EDT/1550 GMT Tuesday), said Jackie Marati, an airport spokeswoman. Police confirmed about 40 minutes later that the plane had crashed.
"I saw it in the fog. Then there were these bright red flashes. They filled up the sky," said Melissa Arnett, 15, who lives nearby. "I didn't know what it was, an atomic bomb or what. We didn't know what was going on."
Part of landing system wasn't working
A landing-guidance system known as the glide slope, which guides planes to the runway, had not been in service at the airport since last month, said sources at the FAA. According to a notice the agency sent pilots, the system was to be down for maintenance until September 12.
When glide-slope guidance is not available, pilots can use other methods, including an electronic device that gives them their distance from the airport. Knowing that distance, they follow a stair-step pattern to the runway.
Guam, the United States' westernmost possession, is the largest of the Mariana Islands in the Western Pacific and has a population of about 144,000. Roughly one-third of its 212 square miles is taken up by military bases. There are nearly 7,000 U.S. military personnel or civilian employees on Guam.
The United States won Guam as part of the spoils of the Spanish-American War in 1898, then lost it briefly to Japan during World War II. Guam was made an unincorporated territory in 1950 and its residents were given U.S. citizenship.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- At least 30 survive Korean Air crash in Guam - August 5, 1997
- Korean Air jetliner crashes in Guam - August 5, 1997
Related sites:
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- Boeing - Statement on Korean Air Accident
- KUAM - TV Guam
- Virtual Guam
- Korean Air
- Boeing - 747 Background
- Government of Guam
- National Transportation Safety Board
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