Alaska Airlines Flight 261: Search Continues for Survivors, Wreckage as San Francisco Family, Friends Mourn Loss
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: At the search site, now, northwest of Los Angeles, the stench of airline fuel has been hanging in the air there as boats use nets to haul in the debris. They have found many items thus far, shoes and clothing and small souvenirs from Mexico. CNN's Jim Hill was on board one of those boats.</s>JIM HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: More than a half-dozen U.S. Coast Guard cutters, three helicopters, U.S. Navy ships, and fixed-wing aircraft joined the search about 10 miles off Point Mugu, California. Several dozen private fishing boats also joined the effort, using grappling hooks and nets to pull debris out of the water. The debris field spread for about six miles across the water surface. Water temperature was in the low 50s, meaning anyone in this condition could not survive and water for more than a few hours. Searchers were hampered by swells ranging 10 to 12 feet but knew that time was of the essence in trying to find anyone still alive. Off the coast of southern California, Jim Hill, CNN.</s>LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you, Jim. And that search does go on. And for more on that search effort let's now go to CNN's Jennifer Auther. Jennifer joins us now from Point Mugu, California. Jennifer, what have you learned?</s>JENNIFER AUTHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Leon, I just talked with someone from the U.S. Coast Guard who said that two more cutters are on their way to the crash site; that would be joining other cutters that are out there, including a 41-foot rescue boat that is out there for the U.S. Coast Guard. We are being told that this is still a search and rescue operation. This is not a recovery operation. Hope has not been abandoned by the crews that are out here using infrared devices on military helicopters to try to pick up some sign of life. Let's listen now to what George Wright from the U.S. Coast Guard said hours ago.</s>CAPT. GEORGE WRIGHT, USGC: So we have every resource we can muster either on scene or en route. We are searching for survivors. The water temperature is about 58 degrees. We're going to search for survivors until there is zero chance of finding anybody from this tragedy alive, and every resource is out there to find people. We are actively searching for survivors.</s>AUTHER: Now, the water temperatures have since dropped from that point of 58 degrees. We had been hearing that it was in the low 50s. It -- the search has been going on now for more than 11 hours. We have a little bit more information about the 88 people who were aboard Flight 261. We know that 83 were passengers. Of those 83, three were infants. Five were crew members. We know that the pilot and the copilot were based in Los Angeles and the flight attendants were based out of Seattle. Thirty-seven of the passengers were headed onto San Francisco International, 47 of the passengers were going to Seattle-Tacoma in Washington state and then three passengers were going to take connecting flights to Eugene, Oregon. One was going to go on to Fairbanks, Alaska. But right now the search continues. They are holding out hope, here. We have no word of survivors. We do know that some bodies have been recovered. But the word from here is, until you hear it from us, this is still a search and rescue effort -- Leon.</s>HARRIS: All right, thanks, Jennifer Auther, reporting live, this morning, from Point Mugu -- Bill.</s>HEMMER: As we have stated, the plane was headed to San Francisco International Airport, this morning. That is where we find CNN's Rusty Dornin with us live now. Rusty, what are they telling you there?</s>RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, Alaska Airlines has several direct flights to Mexico that are, of course, popular with folks here during the winter rainy months. Now, 32 people were scheduled to get off here. When word of the crash came, family and friends who came to the airport to meet their loved ones were greeted instead by airport employees and, of course, Alaska Airlines employees, were taken to a special room where there were counselors, members of the clergy and apparently some Red Cross people who were on hand, who were involved in another mission, also came in to help out and to help the grieving people. Now, three of the people, the airline employees on that flight that were not crew members, they were employees of Alaska. There were also four Horizon employees, which is the sister airline, the commuter airline. With them were 27 family and friends of those folks. Now, they were all on their way to Seattle. A while -- a short while ago, the CEO of Alaska Airlines came out to say that, you know, Alaska has not had a fatal crash in 25 years, and this has hit the company very hard.</s>JOHN KELLY, CEO, ALASKA AIRLINES: I've been with Alaska Airlines, Alaska Air Group, for over 23 years. I've never, ever had any loss in all those times in anything I've ever done, we ever had anything like this. These are -- these are our family. I mean, these are our employees, these are our coworkers, these are our friends, these are our loved ones, just as others have loved ones that are passengers. And so at this point in time, we just -- you know, hope, hope, hope and pray that we will be able to get survivors and -- you know, and like the friends and family of the other passengers we sit anxiously on the sideline.</s>DORNIN: Now, Alaska, like many other airlines, has passenger assistance teams that actually go out and search out the family and friends of the passengers and help them with the grieving or any arrangements to travel anywhere, and that, of course, is happening right now. As you heard, the Coast Guard says they are not giving up. This is still a search and rescue effort. Rusty Dornin, reporting live at San Francisco International.</s>HEMMER: Alaska Airlines also using its Web site to keep people informed about the crash. The address is www.alaskaairlines -- all one word -- alaskaairlines.com. The home page also has a letter from the CEO, John Kelly. Kelly says his primary goal will be to help the families and loved ones of the victims. To that end, the Web site will have postings for the relatives there.