RAISINVILLE TOWNSHIP, Mich. - Three separate fire suppression systems on Comair Flight 3272's right engine were found to be activated, federal investigators reported Sunday.
The new information deepened the mystery about what caused the crash Thursday, because analysis of the Embraer Brasilia 120's flight data recorder indicated the plane was banking to the left for about 17 seconds before it crashed. A bank to the left is inconsistent with damage to the right engine.
Crash investigators are expected to arrive in Greater Cincinnati today to begin their review of Comair's records and flight school. The team will fly here in an Embraer Brasilia 120 to review the airplane's handling and instrumentation.
John Hammerschmidt, lead spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) team studying the accident, said there was no indication of any in-flight fire prior to the crash.
And he continued to refuse comment on the cause of the crash that killed 29 people.
He did say, however, that starting the fire suppression systems required the removal of safety guards plus the flicking of switches. That may indicate that starting the systems was probably decided by the flight crew, and not by impact with the ground.
''If a pilot wanted to shut down the engine immediately, he would pull the handle. If he wanted to activate the fire extinguisher, then he would twist (the handle),'' Mr. Hammerschmidt said.
Mr. Hammerschmidt also said that controls showed the crew was trying to turn the right engine off, reducing the propeller's speed by feathering it.
When asked about a previously reported ''event'' heard on the cockpit voice recorder about a minute before the crash, Mr. Hammerschmidt said there had been no additional analysis of the recorder on Sunday, but that it would resume today. He wouldn't speculate on whether the event mentioned on the tape corollates with instrument recordings showing the left banking or the right engine's fire suppression equipment being turned on.
Mr. Hammerschmidt said the NTSB investigation at the crash scene was winding down. Crews have photographed and created computer maps of the entire site. Today, crews will remove most of the aircraft, taking it to a building at the local fairgrounds for reassembly and analysis.
Mr. Hammerschmidt said the plane had been sprayed with de-icing solution before departing the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and that both the plane's pilot and co-pilot were up to date in their training, according to Comair and Federal Aviation Administration regulations.
After a memorial service in Monroe, Mich., Sunday afternoon, 200 relatives and friends of the crash victims were bused to the crash site, about 6 miles west of the town. From the vantage point of an impromptu memorial made of hay bales, they surveyed the scorched ground.
Work crews suspended their search for remains during the visit. On one bale, workers had painted a sign reading: ''In memory of the passengers and crew of Flight 3272 from the community of Monroe County and Southeast Michigan.'' A bouquet of red and white flowers was placed before the sign.
The visit to the site Sunday was made at the families' request, said Peter Goelz, NTSB spokesman. Asked if it seemed to soothe any of the families, he said, ''There is no closure on an event like this.''
Dr. David Lieberman, chief medical examiner for Monroe County, said in a Sunday news conference that he believes the county's makeshift morgue at the Monroe Custer Airport has received most of the remains from the site.
At the morgue, about 125 people are working 19 hours a day in two daily shifts to examine the remains. Dr. Lieberman said no bodies have been officially identified yet. Asked how the people on Flight 3272 died, he said the blunt force of impact was the cause.
Dr. Lieberman said he hoped to begin releasing remains to families ''certainly within the next several days, maybe as soon as (Monday).''
MEMORIAL SERVICE
PROFILES OF VICTIMS
FOUR DAYS OF CRASH COVERAGE
