ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Authorities Saturday investigated the crash of a small passenger plane and a Korean Air Lines DC-10 cargo jet that went down the wrong runway and an official said a pilot language problem 'is something we will be looking into.'
The Korean Air Lines DC-10 collided Friday in heavy fog with a South Central Air (Alaska) Piper Navajo communter plane at Anchorage International Airport after the pilot of the jetliner attempted to take off without permission on the wrong runway, a Federal Aviation Administration official said.
Six people were injured and both planes destroyed in the accident.
The three of the Navajo passengers injured sustained cuts and abrasions and two of the three KAL crewmembers received spinal fractures. The third suffered a broken rib.
The plane's cargo of dolls and other Christmas-type items burned for more than 16 hours after the Friday crash, forcing investigators to wait until Saturday to attempt to find the flight recorder -- or so-called black box -- to further explain the accident.
'He not only went onto the wrong runway, he went the wrong way,' FAA spokesman Paul Steucke said of the KAL pilot. 'He never would have made it.'
James Michelangelo, spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board in Anchorage, said the KAL pilots are required to speak English, but a possible language barrier 'is something we will be looking into.'
Michelangelo said it might be Tuesday or Wednesday before investigators could conclusively determine the cause.
David Diamond, general manager of South Central Air, said the KAL plane was just lifting upwards when it struck the tail of the Navajo, which was parked on the runway waiting for takeoff instructions.
The landing gear of the DC-10 sheared off both wings of the Navajo. The jet skidded 2,000 feet off the runway and then slammed into a small ravine and burst into flames.
'The upper deck of the (KAL) plane is just in shambles,' an airport police spokesman said. 'There were electrical wires and dolls everywhere. There are dolls scattered all over the place in there.'
The passengers aboard the South Central Air plane remained calm while their pilot, Gary Holt, led them out of the wrecked aircraft, officials said.
One passenger said Holt yelled 'duck' as the Korean plane appeared out of the fog.
'It's a bit of a miracle that nobody was seriously injured, especially if you look at the Navajo,' Steucke said.
The KAL-South Central collision was the second fog-related mishap at the Anchorage airport in five days. On Monday, a Japan Air Lines Boeing 747 smashed into an airport pickup truck, critically injuring the lone passenger of the airport vehi:le.
