11.6: Recovery - Hour 1

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, and welcome in. It is coffee and company,
and we are fueled by Thornton's here at News Radio
eight forty whas as we are now two days removed
but still less than forty eight hours removed from a
tragic situation that becomes more tragic, seemingly by every few hours.
We now know that a total of twelve people are

(00:22):
dead from the plane crash that took place on Tuesday evening.
Twelve dead, fifteen others injured, and sixteen remain unaccounted for.
So the NTSB arrived yesterday and I believe we got
exactly what we were We were prepared for, and I
say prepared for because in our conversations yesterday with Rory

(00:44):
O'Neil and excuse me, Scott for not remembering, the ABC
correspondent then joined us.

Speaker 2 (00:50):
Oh Sweeney saw yesy.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
And the only reason I forgot his name is because
he was somebody that ended up joining us sort of
last second. But he did a great job and also
sort of let us know. The initial briefing from the
NTSB is going to be very very I don't want
to say vague, because that makes it sound as if
they're just choosing not to give us details, but it's

(01:15):
a lengthy process. They're going to give us the facts.
They're going to give us what they know, and a
lot of it wasn't a big surprise, but I think
the biggest takeaway in the footage the aftermath kind of
showed this. But the detached engine clearly a huge factor
here in what took place.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
And no doubt, no doubt, and talking with some folks
off the record, they have their own theories as to
what happened. We're not going to sit here and speculate.
But to your point, Nick, glad to see the NTSB
in town will get some answers. Obviously, the long extended
maintenance period has some people talking and I'm sure the
NTSB will provide some clarity on that alway. Is that
a normal period, you know, you go through heavy maintenance

(01:53):
like that. Does it typically take that long? They will
do their investigation. I think what's been more impressive also, Nick,
has been the new videos that we're starting to see
come out of the aircraft itself. Yes, videos I hadn't
seen before and wow.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
So there are businesses, of course that have camera footage
that is not from somebody's cell phone that they pulled
out being there. They have cameras that run NonStop because
of security, right, and given just what happened and what
people are prioritizing as far as their time and importance,
I'm sure the thought of getting or having footage of
it didn't come up, didn't even enter their brain until,

(02:32):
you know, twenty four hours later, because obviously you know
you're not thinking about that. But I think two of
the specific clips that I've seen it clearly is is
security footage from a camera that just happens to be
set up there, and somehow, throughout the fire and the explosion,
those cameras did survive. We're also learning more about those
that have either been directly impacted, and we've also gotten

(02:58):
more information not necessary from the corner or from any
formal process. But you see family members that are that
are that are still looking for their loved ones, obviously
fearing the worst, they are coming out and and letting
it be known who they're looking for, and that that
just again, it's another element that makes this more real.

(03:18):
Putting yourself in the shoes of somebody that right now
I can't I mean, I can't even put into words
what they may be going through. But sixteen people remain
unaccounted for as of last night, and uh some that
are fighting for their lives, that were that were rushed
to the hospital. We now know a little bit about
them as far as their story, and I look forward
to sharing that with you all throughout the morning here

(03:40):
just because these are this is our community, this is
our city that is going through this. And in a way,
it kind of feels as if things like this happening
and there's no right way to to sum it up
without it sounding somewhat twisted. But when things these things happen,
you really you You learn a lot about yourself, you

(04:00):
learn a lot about your community. And I get the
sense right now that the city is pretty united as
far as just handling this tragic situation and for the
most part not putting political views, you know, injecting that
into this now. I do think that has come up
some throughout this, even yesterday from some of our leaders.

(04:23):
But overall, big picture, I think there's there's a heightened
awareness to just how sad and awful this is, how
it's going to be something that impacts the city for
so long. And I just think it's nice to see
seemingly some natural instincts from people to just want to
be there for others, be there for your neighbor. And
when I was reading three different stories yesterday about one

(04:46):
individual who's in the hospital was severe burns, fighting for
his life. He's around my age, he's got two kids.
I've got two kids. I mean, it just to try
to put yourself in the shoes of somebody going through
that is it's just it's unimaginable.

Speaker 2 (04:58):
That adage, you know, up you go to work this morning, Wow,
all of us did it. If you're listening to us now,
maybe you're just laying in bed, maybe you're getting ready
to go to work. You know, you never know what
the day holds as you step out that door.

Speaker 3 (05:09):
So treat every day.

Speaker 1 (05:10):
And I think when you find out that the some
of the victims and maybe some that are still unaccounted for,
were just in the area because that's a highly busy area.
Given the fact that it you've got UPS, so many
people in this community either worked at UPS. I mean
UPS is like a fraternity in Louisville because of how
many people have worked there over the years. There are

(05:32):
married couples who have children that are now grown adults
that met when they worked at the UPS worldport Overnight
going through the UPS Metro College program. Yeah, I mean
I know many people like that. En Dwight talked about
it yesterday, So Ford right there, that employs so many
people in this city. So I think you have, I
guess more so the ability to try to you know,

(05:55):
even if you're not trying to, you are realizing, Wow,
that's that's a very This could have easily been me.
This could have been somebody that I know that is
in that area all the time, somebody that I know
that that works at UPS. And I just think that
that that's in a way added an element that I
think makes this more I don't want to see relatable,
because it's not, but it's just it's you realize just

(06:17):
how how awful this is and how it could have
been anybody.

Speaker 2 (06:20):
It's as if someone in your own family is going
through something and what you're feeling is empathy, which is
what we need more in this country and world whide,
to be honest with you in pointing ourselves in someone
else's shoes, which is what we immediately do. And how
this is kind of playing out Nigga's like what we
talked about yesterday. First you hear we have X amount
of victims. Then you start to see eventually the pictures

(06:40):
will start coming out of the victims, and then to
your point where you were just saying, families will start
telling stories about those victims, and we'll get connected to
those victims or missing persons, so to speak. And then
suddenly those will become woven into our fabric and we'll
remember them, just like we did with Columbine, we did
with nine to eleven, we did with other disasters. In fact,

(07:00):
when we went through this last anniversary of nine to eleven,
you know, the stories came back up again of the
flight attendants, the pictures, and people just want to remember
those folks who they were and the good things they did.
And you know, if there's any good that comes out
of this, let's find out what happened with this MD eleven. Also,
let's have the conversations down the road when the time
is right about what we can do. So let's just

(07:22):
say this happens again, and you're a business that's located
in that area, or god forbid, as we mentioned yesterday,
you're a resident on the other end, the other end
of the runway. You live in the Germantown, the Schnitzelberg neighborhoods,
that all those neighborhoods over there. What can we do.

Speaker 3 (07:36):
Now moving forward?

Speaker 2 (07:37):
Is there anything we can do? I don't have the answers,
and I'm not going to claim to, but it's worth
having the discussion.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
Yeah, So we'll keep you updated as best we can
throughout the morning. And there's a lot to react to,
to unpack from yesterday. Just a busy, busy day of
coverage and just yesterday was the day of reaction from
leadership and sort of just the process to get more information.
Big step was NTSB showing up in town and the
black box being recovered. That of course will give us

(08:04):
a lot of information. We won't have access to that directly,
not anytime soon, but the cockpit voice recorder and the
flight data recorder being found. I mean it sounds like
the NTSB labs, I mean that this gives them a
lot to work with as far as getting started with
this investigation. Doesn't mean it's going to be quick, because
that's just not how this process works. But yeah, just

(08:27):
I woke up this morning on the way and just
kind of, you know, reflecting on as I look to
my left, I saw a plane that it's not super
close to me at all, but again it's a huge
aircraft and it's not that far away. So I'm seeing
one takeoff right here in Louisville, and just you don't
think about how often that happens every day here because
it's just it's people are in their own world. Also,

(08:50):
it's not new. I mean, UPS has been a big
part of this city and really the world for a
long time. But to know that we have a plane
attempting to take off on Tuesday, and clearly it's left
it's left devastation on us in this community. That'll be
remembered for a long long time.

Speaker 2 (09:08):
So as I was walking through Shelby Park yesterday, I heard,
because you can hear the engines, the wind's blown the
right way, it's carrying the noise back that way. And
you heard the engines.

Speaker 3 (09:16):
And now it's all different.

Speaker 2 (09:17):
It's to your point, you know, I hear it, and
I perk up a little bit more and I pay
more attention, and to see the UPS planes in the
air John and now we're just talking about that. Was
nice to see him back in the air yesterday. But
now it has a different meaning, and it's forever changed
the lives of folks here in little of them, no doubt.

Speaker 1 (09:34):
Let's get to a quick update of traffick and weather.
We will keep you updated as best we can on
this situation. Again, just it's gonna be a big part
of the show today, I think, as you could expect,
but we will try to get a little bit back
to our normal routine each morning that you've come to
expect right here at news Radio eight forty whas at
this time twenty four hours, yeah, twenty four hours ago,

(09:56):
this time yesterday, the death toll was at seven and
as of right now, up to twelve twelve people have
lost their life in the ups cargo plane crash that
took off from the airport here in Louisville on Tuesday afternoon.
Fifteen others are injured and sixteen remain unaccounted for. Yesterday,
the NTSB showed up in town and that really gets

(10:17):
the ball rolling as far as this process, the investigation
that will at some point, and it's probably long down
the road, and what I mean is the investigation completely concluded.
These things take typically a year at minimum, but we'll
learn throughout when it comes to just updates that we get,
the media briefings that take place throughout this process, and

(10:39):
yesterday was just day one, but right out of the gate,
NTSB is able to learn what they believe. And one
thing that really stood out yesterday is just the constant
reminder not to speculate on what would have caused it.
And I don't think it's overkill. I'm sure if you're
consuming updates constantly, maybe you think that it is. I

(11:00):
but it's also something that is that important because that's
why these investigations are so thorough and extensive they take
so much time, is because it's needed to just make
sure you have you fully looked into it as best
you possibly can. And I've been fascinated just to see
the level of just order and just the processes and

(11:23):
just different I guess departments, if you will, within the
NTSB that do a specific role within the investigations. So
it's a world that I was unexposed to in every
way and learned a lot about it yesterday. Very fascinating
and I'm going to be following along closely for obvious reasons,
but makes sense when you've got something like this that

(11:45):
could happen. A plane crash that you'd have an organization
like the NTSB having so many resources and having such
detailed processes. But here is one of the things we
heard yesterday from the NTSDB Lee that showed up that
that that gave us the first of probably many updates
throughout this entire investigation. This is NTSB member todd Enman,

(12:10):
And it would help if I played sound and I
had it turned on, wouldn't it. I think that's probably
pretty key in it working.

Speaker 3 (12:16):
So apologies.

Speaker 4 (12:18):
Now we have viewed airport CCTV security coverage which shows
the left engine detaching from the wing during the takeoff role.
It gives us a much better picture of what was
happening before you start to see the fire and before
the detachment actually occurs.

Speaker 1 (12:35):
So that was that was something that wasn't officially confirmed,
but didn't take long for different photos and videos to surface,
and you you could tell that that that that's what
that is, and it's hard to imagine, it's hard. It's
hard to think that that wasn't a factor in the
crash happening, at least to an extent. So again, the investigation,

(12:56):
it'll be it'll be extensive, but we'll learn here and
there throughout out, and it'll take some time. As far
as the timeline for getting back to normal around here,
your guess is as good as mine. I mean, there's
still sixteen people that they can't account for, and if
you assume the worst, I think you're well within reason.

(13:19):
If you are somebody that is one of those family
members that is looking for somebody that's unaccounted for, I
cannot in any way tell you what I would do,
because I've never been in that situation, and I hope
to god I never am.

Speaker 3 (13:34):
But you don't.

Speaker 1 (13:35):
You don't just chalk it up as they're gone until
you've exhausted every which way to try to account for
them and find that they were in fact a victim
and that they're dead. And who knows is how long
that could take. So again, it'll be it'll be something
that will be felt here forever, and in real time

(13:56):
we'll all get back to normal to an extent where
it won't be on our minds as much as it
is now and as much as it was yesterday, but
you'll still feel it. I think, all right, what I
want to do coming up around eight, around six o'clock,
excuse me. There is a story about a man who
lived and worked at great A Auto Parts. He lived

(14:19):
in an RV on the property, and his story is
one that'll just it'll hit you, at least I think
it will, and if you're human, it'll it'll stick with you.
So we'll do that coming up around six o'clock. But
here's the schedule the rest of the five o'clock hour
coming up. On the other side, Roy O'Neil of NBC
News going to join us. We'll get his thoughts on
this situation. Also the government shut down. See if there's

(14:41):
any updates there. We've got sports coming up about fifteen minutes,
so stick with us. It is Coffee and Company, and
we are fueled by Thornton's right here on News Radio
eight forty whas. All right, it is coffee and company
with you here at News Radio eight forty whas, Nick Coffee,
That is me. Roory O'Neil is joining us, and we'll
start with Donald Trump urging Republicans to eliminate the filibuster

(15:03):
to end this government shutdown that has now broke a
record for the longest shutdown we've ever experienced. In your
min Rory, what exactly does Trump mean by nuking the
filibuster that he's encouraging Republicans to do.

Speaker 4 (15:16):
Right, it's that philibuster rule in the Senate that requires
sixty votes for anything meaningful to pass. They already sort
of did away with the filibuster when it comes to nominations,
and some Republicans and Conservatives have felt burned by that
over the years. But in this case, if they were
to nuke that filibuster, get rid of it, that means
a simple majority could pass things like this continuing resolution

(15:40):
and get the government reopen. But the whole idea of
the filibuster is to encourage debate, to protect the minority.
You know, President Trump may have won all seven swing states,
as he always says, but there's an awful lot of
the country that.

Speaker 3 (15:54):
Doesn't align with his philosophies.

Speaker 4 (15:56):
And this whole idea is to say, well, let's get
them represented in this debate as well.

Speaker 3 (16:01):
You can't just have one side steam.

Speaker 4 (16:03):
Roll the other and then things go back and forth,
wildly swinging with different policies. Bring in the minority, and
let's get to some consensus. The problem is we're not
really having that discussion to get that consensus.

Speaker 1 (16:16):
This fight that has led to the government shut down.
Not at all crazy to think this could have a
big impact on next year's midterms.

Speaker 4 (16:24):
Oh absolutely, But in many ways too, this will be
ancient history by then, because look, a year is a
long way to go, right. You know, maybe someone's upset
by the East wing being knocked down, Maybe someone is
upset with Chuck Schumer comment saying, you know, every day
this drags on, it helps us.

Speaker 3 (16:40):
You never know where the voter is going to be
next year.

Speaker 4 (16:42):
Obviously the election results from Tuesday are still sort of
filtering through. But yeah, that's what they're concerned about, that
issues like this will resonate a year from now when
voters say ough to heck with.

Speaker 3 (16:54):
Both of them.

Speaker 1 (16:55):
For those that don't keep up with the fight that
is going on, they just want it to end because
there's starting to feel the impact in their everyday life.
What would you tell them as far as the biggest
issue keeping this shutdown from ending right now?

Speaker 4 (17:09):
Yeah, I'm stay engaged is what I would always say.
But you know, if you want to call your congressman,
do it. If you want to write letters, go do it.
Send faxes if you still can, but yeah, reach out.
If this is impacting you tell your stories, because you know,
right now, the members of Congress and the House, they're
not around. They're back in their home district, so they're

(17:30):
sort of escaping some of the pressures of Washington. But
a lot of them are frustrated too. They're like, look,
we want to be in the game. But Speaker Johnson
has not called the House in session for over a month,
so there really hasn't been much debate going on, no
back and forth. And you know, even President Trump, meeting
with Senate Republicans yesterday, said look, you know, we have
to find our way out of this. One option, as

(17:51):
I said, nuking the filibuster as it were. Another is
to try to find some negotiation because Democrats essentially are
flexing the only muscle they have. I've been stopping the
cr They say it's to reopen the debate about those
subsidies for Obamacare healthcare plans.

Speaker 1 (18:08):
Rody o'neils our guest joining us on News Radio eight
forty whs. The plane crash here in Louisville continues to
dominate the coverage here in Louisville, as one would expect,
But just your thoughts, Rory on the black box that
was recovered the data that's going to be there. Any
timeline that you could give us as far as just
any comparison for when we get answers that as far

(18:28):
as what they retrieved from the black box.

Speaker 4 (18:31):
Yeah, that could be relatively soon. So they did retrieve
both the data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, so
that's going to have a lot of valuable information about
what was happening in the cockit. How when they were
aware of that left engine apparently falling off, did it
was an explosion first? Did the engine mount spail? Was
their debris on the runway that got sucked into the end.

(18:52):
All those different kinds of things the NTSP is investigating
and exactly what materials are recovered are going to be
key to this investigation. If this was as we suspect,
the left engine came off the wing, I mean, if
on that debris that we've seen next to the runway
are the engine mounts, there are there obvious signs of
stress there that might help give us an answer. Or

(19:14):
is it possible that somehow in all that debris they
could find just the right pieces to help answer the
question about what caused what appears to be the engine
to come off the left side.

Speaker 1 (19:24):
Rory, you are the best as always. We appreciate your time,
Enjoy your day and we'll talk soon, my friend.

Speaker 3 (19:29):
Thanks Nix.

Speaker 1 (19:29):
That is Rory O'Neil of NBC News. We've got a
sports update coming up here on the other side, and
a lot more to get into, including sharing the stories
of those that we now know have lost their lives.
That's not official just yet when it comes to the
entire list of the victims, but it's going to trickle
out in the coming days, and it started yesterday as

(19:49):
far as just stories of those that survived and they
can't imagine why they were able to stay alive and
others weren't. I mean, it's just a very heavy and
real thing, and we use the platform here to to
share stories about those that are fighting for their lives
and those that are looking for people that have been
unaccounted for. That's the that's the heaviness of this entire situation.

(20:11):
So again, our coverage will continue throughout the morning right
here at NewsRadio eight forty whas