Lack of ‘Black Box’ to Hamper Inquiry Into Detroit Air Crash

The National Transportation Safety Board on Thursday began investigating a commuter plane crash that killed nine people and injured 20 in the worst disaster in the 32-year history of Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

Investigators conceded that the absence of a “black box”--a flight-recording device that often gives important clues to an aircraft’s final seconds--could make their probe of Wednesday’s crash of Northwest Airlink Flight 2268 especially difficult.

Spanish-Built Plane

Such devices are not required on planes as small as the Spanish-built turbo-prop plane, which was carrying 16 passengers and three crew members when it crashed while the pilot was trying to land.

The plane slammed into four baggage trailers, two vans, two baggage cars and a food truck before bursting into flames about 15 yards from a crowded terminal building.

Robert L. White, 39, of Ortonville, Mich., a passenger on the plane, recalled the final moments of the flight.

‘We’re Gonna Crash’

“As soon as we crossed I-94, it seemed like someone put the brakes on the plane,” he said from his hospital bed. “We veered to the left then back to the right. I remember someone screaming, ‘Oh my God, we’re gonna crash!’

“I remember sliding and people screaming. When we came to a rest, I was upside down in my seat. There was fire inside and outside the plane. I crawled to the front.

“When I was crawling out, my clothes caught on fire. All I remember is that someone on the ground stopped me from rolling around and smothered the fire,” said White, who is in stable condition with second-degree burns at St. Joseph’s Mercy Hospital in Pontiac, Mich.

The pilot, co-pilot and seven passengers were killed in the crash. Twenty people, including 10 on the ground, were injured. Seven of the injured remained hospitalized Thursday, but all were expected to recover, hospital officials said.

A nine-member safety board team, headed by board Chairman Jim Burnett, began its initial on-site investigation Thursday.

An agency spokesman said the initial investigation would focus on the operation of the aircraft, flight planning, crew qualifications and air-traffic control. He said the on-site investigation would last about two weeks, but it could be up to a year before an official cause of the crash is determined.

May Have Lost Engine

Although Burnett refused to speculate on a possible cause, an airport official said the plane might have lost the use of one of its two engines as the pilot, David Sherer, 45, of Crestline, Ohio, tried to land.