Federal investigators were trying to find out what caused a commuter plane to veer out of control seconds after taking off from a North Carolina airport yesterday, killing all 21 aboard. <\/P><\/p>\n
The pilot of US Airways Express Flight 5481 declared an emergency moments before the plane suddenly corkscrewed, clipping a hangar at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport before slamming into the ground. <\/P><\/p>\n
\n“We heard the airplane taking off, and then we heard the noise – the boom – and that was it,” witness Gary Barrier told the Charlotte Observer. “It’s just a sickening feeling.” <\/P><\/p>\n
\nAviation officials don’t know what caused the crash – the nation’s first deadly commercial air accident in more than a year – and the FBI said there were no indications that terrorism was to blame. <\/P><\/p>\n
\nThe six-year-old twin-engine Beechcraft 1900D, run by Mesa Air Lines under the US Airways banner, had no record of serious trouble or maintenance problems, according to government records. <\/P><\/p>\n
\nThe plane was on a quick jump to the Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C., airport, about 45 minutes away, when it took off shortly before 9 a.m. in clear skies and light wind. <\/P><\/p>\n
\nThe impact splintered the plane into unrecognizable pieces, scattering charred debris in an area half the size of a football field, fire officials said. <\/P><\/p>\n
\nMore than 100 firefighters battled the roaring flames, fed by 2,000 pounds of jet fuel. <\/P><\/p>\n
\nNo one on board the full flight – 19 passengers, including an 11-year-old, and two crew members – survived. Hundreds of workers on the ground escaped injury. <\/P><\/p>\n
\nThe dead also included 13-year-old Caitlin Albury of the Bahamas and her father, Robin Albury, 38, and uncle, Nicholas Albury, 21. <\/P><\/p>\n
\nAlso killed were two Clemson University graduate students Sreenivasa Reddy Badam, 24, and Ganeshram Sreenivasan, 23, both of India, and three workers with the W.R. Grace chemical company. <\/P><\/p>\n
\nJust before the crash, the pilot, Capt. Katie Leslie of Charlotte, reported an emergency, but her transmission was cut short and the problem was never identified, aviation officials said. <\/P><\/p>\n
\nLeslie, 25, had been a commercial pilot for three years. <\/P><\/p>\n
\nJohn Goglia of the National Transportation Safety Board said the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder were recovered and are being analyzed. <\/P><\/p>\n
\n“Both were burned, but it does appear they were in decent shape,” he said. <\/P><\/p>\n
\nHe said bolts and small pieces of debris were found on the runway after the crash, but it wasn’t clear if they were from the doomed plane. <\/P><\/p>\n
\nRecords show the propeller-driven aircraft had eight in-flight reports of minor service difficulties, including an engine fuel leak.<\/P><\/p>\n
By Maki Becker, Daily News Staff Writer <\/B><\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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