LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- The injured co-pilot of an American Airlines jetliner thought he felt the aircraft hydroplane over the rain-slicked runway just before it crashed, killing nine people, investigators said Friday.
First Officer Michael Origel's first statement since the Tuesday wreck at Little Rock Rock National Airport may deepen the mystery, since investigators also said physical evidence did not indicate hydroplaning and the runway tested well for skid resistance.Asked about the apparent contradiction, George Black, spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) that is leading the probe, said Origel was still in pain from a fractured leg. He was interviewed in his hospital room.
"Maybe his memory will be clearer later, but we do need to consider that (injury) in the process," Black told a news conference.
Origel described the descent into Little Rock as being normal and the touchdown as firm, Black told a news conference.
"The first officer felt that they hydroplaned down the runway. The reason for that is that he did not feel the normal decelerating forces that would be expected during coast-out on the runway," Black said.
Origel was the sole cockpit survivor in the crash that killed the pilot and eight passengers, including a group of six from the small Arkansas town of Russellville returning from a tour of Scotland.
Flight 1420 with 145 people on board touched down just as the most severe class of thunderstorm hit the airport. It sped down the runway, crashing into massive steel light posts that broke the fuselage into pieces.
Origel's account is crucial because investigators have raised questions about possible abnormalities in two systems for slowing a plane on landing, spoilers and engine thrusters.
The NTSB is also looking at whether the severe wind and rain of the incoming storm could have caused the wreck, although they said the airport tower gave the pilots a steady stream of updates on the worsening weather.
Investigators earlier said a first review of the evidence showed the spoilers, special wing flaps that act as a wind break, were not activated and reverse thrusters on the engines had been turned on and off twice rather then the normal procedure of firing constantly during the runway roll-out.