Investigators look for black boxes in Amazon Plane Crash

Three people were aboard the

Boeing
Co.

767 that crashed into Trinity Bay near Houston around 12:45 pm central time Saturday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The plane was operated by

Atlas Air Global Interests
Inc.

and on the way from Miami to Houston. Atlas confirmed Sunday that the three people on board had died.

The so-called black boxes on the plane can provide essential information about the last moments of the flight as investigators try to determine what caused the aircraft to fall.

A briefing from the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation into the crash, was scheduled for Sunday afternoon. The office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Houston collaborated in gathering evidence. Authorities ask the public to provide photographs or videos of the accident.

The FAA announced that it lost radar and radio contact with Atlas Air's Atlas 3591 flight, approximately 30 km southeast of Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

The accident left many items, including women's clothing, sheets, cardboard boxes and fiberglass, Hawthorne said.

The largest intact section of the plane was about 50 feet long, Hawthorne said at a press conference on Saturday. "It sounds like total devastation," said the sheriff.

Witnesses reported that the plane crashed first in a swampy area of ​​the bay, said Sheriff Hawthorne. He pointed out that the fog had risen in the area but that the conditions at the accident site were difficult, the depth of water ranging from 5 feet to zero, with deep mud .

NTSB President Robert Sumwalt told reporters late Saturday that the plane was in a normal descent up to about 6,300 feet. He then needed what he called a "very, very fast" dive. He noted that the 767 had an "exceptional safety record" since the first flight of the model in 1981.

As investigators and industry security experts began to analyze the early clues, some problems arose.

There appears to have been no emergency transmission from the crew, suggesting that a fire would be unlikely as smoke sensors would have warned the pilots in advance of this problem. . A quick check of the jet manifest revealed that he was not carrying any dangerous goods identified in his cargo, according to a person familiar with the details. Several security experts, however, stressed that it was premature to draw definitive conclusions.

Security experts also said that most engine problems were at the bottom of the list of potential culprits. According to these experts, a loss of thrust or an almost instant failure of both engines, especially at such a low altitude, is highly unlikely. Ice particles in the atmosphere, as well as internal ice buildup on the engine parts, have temporarily shut down many engines on large jets, but at much higher altitudes.

According to the person who knew the details well, the aircraft was making a normal descent when it changed direction under air traffic control in order to avoid getting into a storm cell. The latest cockpit radio shows confirmed the controller's radio message that the weather would clear closer to the airport.

The last radar signal from the plane was about 5,800 feet, and then the plane quickly headed for water, according to a person familiar with the details. According to some estimates, the rate of descent before the accident would be greater than 7,000 feet per minute. A typical descent to a landing is much slower.

Atlas Air, a New York-based company, operates a fleet of 112 aircraft, including 20 Boeing 767 freighters, on behalf of Amazon Air, formerly Prime Air. He also flies planes for other customers, including DHL Express, the Chinese SF Express and the US Army.

Air Transport Services Group
Inc.

Another cargo operator is operating another 20 Boeing aircraft for Amazon, and more are expected to join the aircraft later this year.

Atlas Air is sad to have continued flying Boeing 767 Sundays on behalf of Amazon and DHL.

Amazon outsources flights between its US distribution centers, as well as ground handling and aircraft maintenance services.

The e-commerce giant launched its airline business in 2015, building on the rapid growth of online purchases of goods previously shipped by road or rail.

The last major accident of a cargo plane in the United States occurred in August 2013, when an Airbus A300 jet operated by

United Parcel Service
Inc.

crashed shortly before the runway approaching Birmingham Airport, Alabama, killing the pilot and co-pilot.

-Alison Sider and Laura Stevens contributed to this article.

Write to Andrew Tangel at [email protected], Andy Pasztor at [email protected] and Doug Cameron at [email protected]