Taiwan Plane Crash: Search for Survivors; Metro North Train Slams Jeep
CUOMO: All right, we're following two breaking news stories this morning. A plane crash overseas and a train crash right here at home. Take a look at this dash cam video. Top left of your screen. You see that plane. This is in Taiwan. Barely misses the buildings, hits the road and then crashes into a shallow river. Fifty-eight people on board. At least 23 confirmed dead right now but it's still a very active scene. Let's bring in CNN aviation analyst and PBS science correspondent Miles O'Brien and Mary Schiavo, CNN aviation analyst and former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation. Thanks to both of you again. Let's go back to the video of the plane. Let's get that ready to slow it down. Miles, I ask you this in the meantime. All these air crashes in Asia, is it just because of how many flights and how many people, or is there some reason that we keep hearing about them?</s>MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: This is a fast growing region, Chris. It's now the large aviation sector in the world. That's happened very quickly. It's a tremendous amount of pressure to have aircraft and crews that are flying those aircraft to meet the demand. And so you have to ask the question about whether the airlines are really sticking to the rules and the standard practices on maintenance and training of these crews. And I think that's a big question we should be asking.</s>CUOMO: All right. So, let's ask it. Mary, let's take a look at this slowed down video again. You, early on in the show, said that you thought one propeller was moving more slowly than the other. And it does seem that the left propeller was more -- you know, running at a different rate. The plane was pitched that way. What does it mean to you, other than the obvious, which is that there was an engine issue?</s>MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, we -- right. And the way that the plane is pitched and the fact that the plane was taking off and that it's a twin engine turbo prop, I mean to me it suggests that they had a left engine problem and I really suspect that once we get the air traffic control tower tapes, if that's what they had, they would have had time to get off a mayday call. It looks to me like they were headed to the water, perhaps trying to try a "miracle on the Hudson" landing on the water. They didn't have enough altitude, and to me, with just one engine, they weren't able to maintain that altitude to make it over the highway. But if you lose an engine on takeoff on a twin turbo prop, you know, it's tough. You have to be trained to fly it and it sure looks to me that they lost the left engine.</s>CUOMO: Mary pointed out that the problem rate of crashes involved with twin engine prop planes are actually worse than single engine. That comes down to piloting. Why, Miles? Why? You would think two engines give you a better chance.</s>O'BRIEN: You would think. And, in this case, certainly there's enough power provided by that remaining engine to make that airplane fly. But the crew has to do a lot of things exactly right in the exact sequence within seconds in order to make this all work. They have to feather the prop or ensure that the automatic feathering system works. It's the difference between being it this way and this way. You don't want to have it acting like a plow. That causes drag and will bring you down. You have to push the right rudder, which steers the nose to the right. And you have to maintain a certain air speed, minimum controllable air speed. If you don't -- all those things don't happen, and meanwhile you're trying to figure out where a possible emergency landing might occur, you're going to find the thing does not go well, as we saw.</s>CUOMO: Right, especially with it rolled over on its side like that as it's crashing down toward the water. It's amazing more people weren't hurt in those buildings, on that road and in that plane, that people survived. The recovery is still ongoing. The numbers are not solid. All right, so now let's look at the other situation, Mary, this train crash that we just had here outside New York City, the deadliest ever in Metro North rail history. Seven people, at this hour. Many still critically injured. So, again, another evolving situation. Seems that an SUV stuck on the tracks, the crossing gates came down on it. Why would a car be in that situation?</s>SCHIAVO: Well, there are a couple of reasons. Well, many reasons the car might be in that situation. And the most common one, which has been an effort by the Department of Transportation literally for a couple of decades to get people to quit doing this, is beating the train and trying to go around the -- trying to beat the warning signals and the gates coming down. And in some cases they have even gone around the gates and it's just tragic how many accidents occur because of that. However, we don't know if that's what happened in this case. There are also many instances where the lights and the signals, the warning bells don't work, don't function, where the gates are coming down and you don't get that preliminary warning. And then, finally, the trains are supposed to blow their whistles at particular points when they're approaching the crossing. However, in many places, in many municipalities, there are limits on where they can blow the whistle. So there are many reasons why someone might not be aware that a train is coming or that the gates are about to come down.</s>CUOMO: Right. And now, in terms of the accountability here of what was -- should have been done or was done by those in charge, the death toll, some good news, the death toll was revised from seven to six. So that's good. We want as many people to make it as possible. The problem, Miles, though, one of those six is the person who was operating the train. So you won't get that perspective. But there's plenty of information on a train to tell what was happening and how they reacted to it, right?</s>O'BRIEN: Well, you know, it's not unlike aviation. There are recorders and there's all kinds of capability in the system which measures speed, whether that crossing system was working properly. It's not like they're completely in the dark in the absence of a living operator of that train.</s>CUOMO: All right. Look, the governor said, who happens to be my brother, he said accidents happen. But here's my push back on that, Mary. Yes, they do happen. And then the NTSB goes in and investigates and they come out with reports and recommendations so they don't happen again. And we know a report came out after that December 13 crash that they had of the plane -- train derailing and people died and the pilot -- the driver had sleep apnea that went undiagnosed. In that recommendation, how do we know whether or not it was followed by the rail authority and by the politicians involved?</s>SCHIAVO: Well, we don't until there's a follow-up report. And my old office, the Office of the Inspector General, does track whether the NTSB recommendations have been implemented by the Department of Transportation and its entities like federal rail and mass transit oversight agencies. But the NTSB can only ask, and it's really a very -- had tremendous foresight when they issued a report just a few weeks ago saying that improving mass transit safety and fire suppression and that Metro-North had had six accidents in a couple of years and that they were a target, too, for safety improvements. There, you know, they had great foresight. They're almost like the Cassandra of transportation. But they depend upon other federal agencies to make those safety recommendations be implemented. The NTSB can only beg.</s>CUOMO: So Cassandra, Greek mythology, known for only prognosticating negative outcomes, but let's say they got it right and there was a negative outcome and they were saying it and it did happen again. Does it make it easier to get change this time, Mary, quickly?</s>SCHIAVO: Yes, because the federal government and many state governments legislate on the backs of tragedies. They legislate with a body count. And here there's been more body counts; way past time to act.</s>CUOMO: All right, Mary Schiavo, thank you very much. Miles O'Brien, appreciate the perspective as always. Alisyn?</s>ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Chris, there is drama in the Aaron Hernandez trial. Testimony pitting sisters against each other. One, Hernandez's fiancee; the other was the girlfriend of the victim. What we can expect in court today. We'll give you a full report.