NTSB TO HOLD PUBLIC HEARING, MAY 9, ON CRASH OF EMERY WORLDWIDE CARGO AIRCRAFT

Washington, DC - The National Transportation Safety Board will conduct a public hearing next month as part of its ongoing investigation into the crash of an Emery Worldwide Airlines DC-8 cargo aircraft near Rancho Cordova, California, on February 16, 2000.

The hearing, rescheduled from an earlier date, will convene at 9:30 a.m., Thursday, May 9, at the NTSB Board Room and Conference Center, 429 L’Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington, D.C. NTSB Member John Goglia will chair the hearing.

Emery Worldwide Airlines flight 17, a Douglas DC-8-71 (N8079U), on a scheduled cargo flight from Sacramento, California to Dayton, Ohio, with three crew members aboard, crashed shortly after takeoff from Mather Field. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and post-crash fire; there were no survivors.

The major issues to be examined at the hearing center on aircraft maintenance and the associated oversight by airline and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) personnel.

The hearing originally was planned for August 2001 but was postponed when Emery suspended air carrier operations. However, the Board felt that it was important to reschedule the hearing and examine the maintenance issues involved because, as Member Goglia explained, “good maintenance is key to aviation safety.” Noting that maintenance and oversight issues have arisen in the past in connection with passenger airliners, Member Goglia stressed “the need to ensure that the highest standards also are applied to maintaining the large flee of cargo aircraft in this country.”

A Board of Inquiry, made up of senior Safety Board staff, and a technical panel of NTSB investigators will lead the questioning of witnesses, who also will be questioned by representatives of the following parties to the hearing: FAA, Boeing Corporation, Emery Worldwide Airlines, and Tennessee Technical Services. A witness list will be released on the day of the hearing.

Information from the hearing will be used by the Safety Board’s staff in preparing the final report on the Emery accident, including proposed recommendations aimed at preventing similar accidents in the future.

NTSB Media Contact: Paul Schlamm, (202) 314-6100