Crime & Safety

NTSB: 'We Are in Recovery Mode' at Santa Monica Airport

Crews will work all day to remove the hangar from the plane and into the night if necessary. Still no word on the number of people on the plane.

By Kelly Hartog and John Schreiber

The National Transportation Board is currently holding a press conference at Santa Monica Airport and says the recovery process will probably take all day to lift the hangar off the plane.

Spokesperson Van McKenny said two cranes would probably be needed to shore up the hangar and floodlights would be used to work into the night if necessary.

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He also said that there was no communication with the pilot ahead of time indicating there was a problem at any time during the flight. 

McKenny added that it, "looks like [the pilot] veered off the right side of the runway... as he continued down the turn got sharper and sharper."

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The NTSB said there was still no indication of how many people were on the plane but that there were no survivors and that it would  be up to the coroner to provide that information when it became available. 

"We have not identified or recovered any of the victims," McKenny said. He did note, however, "There is indication that there is a cockpit voice recorder on board and they will recover that as well once the hangar is lifted off."


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