N.C. plane crash tapes show panic WASHINGTON (AP) =97 Two minutes before US Airways Express Flight 5481= crashed=20 on takeoff, Capt. Katie Leslie and co-pilot Jonathan Gibbs joked about=20 giving Krispy Kreme doughnuts as a wedding gift. But the conversation=20 turned serious, then frantic, as the plane took off from Charlotte-Douglas= =20 International Airport with its nose pointed too far up, according to=20 transcripts of the cockpit voice recorder released Tuesday. "Help me,"=20 Leslie said. Gibbs swore. He swore again as Leslie apparently pushed the=20 control column that moves the tail flap, which was supposed to push the=20 nose down to the correct angle. But the tail flap, or elevator, did not=20 respond properly, according to Lorenda Ward, investigator in charge for the= =20 National Transportation Safety Board. "Oh, my God," said Leslie, who then= =20 radioed the control tower. "We have an emergency." A child yelled,=20 "Daddy!" Warning horns sounded. "Pull the power back," Leslie said. "Oh=20 my God." The plane plunged to earth 37 seconds into the Jan. 8 flight from=20 Charlotte, N.C., to Greer, S.C. All 21 people aboard the 19-seat Beech 1900= =20 turboprop were killed. Investigators have been looking at a mechanical=20 problem and the plane's weight as potential causes of the crash. The plane= =20 was estimated to be within 100 pounds of its maximum takeoff weight. In a= =20 preliminary report, the NTSB said turnbuckles that control tension on=20 elevator control cables were set improperly, leaving one cable nearly 2=20 inches shorter than the other. If a cable is too slack, the pilot does not= =20 have full control of the elevator. The plane's tail assembly was adjusted= =20 two days before the crash. The aircraft's data recorder showed an unusual=20 up-and-down motion of the elevator control on all nine flights it took=20 following the maintenance work, investigators have said. The NTSB began a= =20 two-day hearing Tuesday on the crash that was expected to focus in part on= =20 oversight of airplane maintenance performed by outside contractors. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.caribbeanfloral.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************