Investigators Sift AWACS Crash Debris

Investigators combed through the wreckage of a crashed Air Force radar plane Saturday to try to discover what caused it to plunge to the ground after takeoff, killing all 24 people aboard.

“In an accident this catastrophic, it’s difficult to find what parts are exactly what,” said Col. Charlie Lambert, head of an interim team of investigators. He said the cockpit voice recorder was recovered and the wreckage of the four engines identified.

The last two bodies of the 24 military personnel on board--22 Americans and two Canadians--were found late Friday night, said Maj. Jerry Brown, a spokesman for Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage, the site of Friday’s accident. All the bodies have been identified and all the families were notified Friday and Saturday, Air Force spokeswoman Kathy Fawcett said.

The huge AWACS plane plunged into a thick woods two miles northeast of the runway minutes after takeoff. The plane, carrying 125,000 pounds of jet fuel, exploded in a huge fireball, spreading debris over several acres.

It was the first crash of an AWACS (airborne warning and control system) plane since the advanced radar reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft entered service with the Air Force in 1977.

Some reports said the crash may have been caused by a flock of geese being sucked into one of the plane’s engines, causing it to stall. Air Force officials said a military board being formed to investigate the crash will look at everything, but he declined to speculate on the possible cause of the crash.