The Nation - News from Sept. 5, 1988

Federal investigators wound up their field work at the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport, site of the Delta Air Lines crash that killed 13 people last Wednesday. The plane’s cockpit was being sent to Delta headquarters in Atlanta, where it will be dismantled for study, and the remainder of the inquiry will be conducted from Washington. Investigators refused to comment on reports that double engine failure caused the crash. But a Delta pilot said failure of two of the Boeing 727’s three engines might explain why the wing flaps, normally extended on takeoff to increase lift, apparently were in the retracted position. He said 727s can fly on one engine but not with the flaps extended and that the flight crew might have retracted them in a desperate attempt to stay aloft.