Feds Scrutinize AirTran Fire

Federal investigators said Friday the emergency landing of an AirTran plane last Wednesday in Atlanta was a far more serious incident than they first thought, reports CBS News Transportation Correspondent Bob Orr.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed that an electrical fire in the DC-9's forward cargo hold actually burned a "tennis ball sized" hole through the jet's fuselage just behind the main door on the left side.

Bound for Akron, Ohio, with 92 passengers, the jet was forced to make an emergency landing after fire broke out beneath the passenger compartment.

There was smoke in the cockpit and front galley, officials said.

NTSB Chairman James Hall was sharply critical of officials at both AirTran and the Atlanta airport for their handling of the jet. Hall said the plane was improperly moved and cleaned after it returned to Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport on Wednesday. They also replaced emergency exit windows.

"This was a very serious incident. Both this airline and this airport should know better than to tamper with evidence of a federal investigation of this incident," Hall said.

Hall said that moving and cleaning the fire-damaged plane violated rules of both the NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration and that both agencies were investigating.

Hartsfield officials said they would have no comment until the NTSB completed its investigation.

AirTran released a statement Thursday night saying the airline had cooperated with federal officials and would continue to do so. "At no time last evening or today were any actions taken to obstruct efforts by the FAA or the NTSB in determining the cause of the incident," AirTran said.

The AirTran pilot reported that two cockpit circuit breakers blew as the plane reached 4,000 feet. Smoke developed in the cockpit and in the front galley as the plane returned to Atlanta. Passengers were forced to evacuate using emergency exit slides.

An AirTran spokesman said there were no serious injuries, but two emotionally shaken passengers were taken to a hospital.

Hall said the fire in the plane's cargo hold was "strikingly similar" to the fire that caused the fatal crash of a ValuJet plane in the Florida Everglades in 1996.

Valujet changed its name to AirTran after that crash, which killed 110 people. Investigators later determined that the 1996 fire was fed by oxygen generators that were being transported illegally.

Wednesday's fire was the third on an AirTran plane this year, and the fifth for any airline, Hall said.

The plane involved in this latest incident was 31 years old and still had not been retrofitted with fire detection and suppression equipment in its cargo holds. Sources tell CBS News that was scheduled to happen this week. Under the law, airlines have until March 2001 tperform the retrofit.

NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said the fire was under the business class section and "burned through the floor of the cabin." He said investigators would be trying to learn if the fire had spread to that extent with passengers still on board.

"The fire was very intense in that area, it did breach the fuselage to the point of the smoke being along the outside of the airplane," NTSB investigator Frank Hilldrup said.

Passenger Leslie Brenneman, 63, said he was thankful the pilot returned to the airport.

"We thought we weren't going to see our grandchildren again. It was pretty scary," he said.