NTSB PUBLIC HEARING, MAY 9-10, ON EMERY WORLDWIDE DC-8 CARGO CRASH

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

The hearing 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.  It is expected that the hearing may continue into a second day.  NTSB Member John Goglia will chair the hearing.

Emery Worldwide Airlines flight 17, a McDonnell 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 on February 16, 2000.  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.

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, the Boeing Company, Emery Worldwide Airlines, Tennessee Technical Services and the Air Line Pilots Association.

A witness list will be released on the first day of the hearing.

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