BY TOM O'NEILL
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday will open its records regarding the January crash of Comair Flight 3272.

NTSB spokesman Paul Schlamm declined to discuss information in the docket, which will include a cockpit voice recorder transcript, flight data recorder information, weather studies, witness statements and reports on crew and air traffic control performance.

The release will not contain a probable cause determination, which will be made at an as-yet-unscheduled public hearing, Mr. Schlamm said.

But one aviation expert says the board's actions to date indicate that mechanical problems were unlikely.

"If there's evidence of mechanical failure, that's usually a fairly clearly defined explanation; they don't wait on announcing," Chuck Eastlake said.

"Here, it seems likely a combination of events that, taken one at a time, wouldn't be a problem but together were," said Mr. Eastlake, an aeronautical professor at Emory-Riddle University in Daytona Beach, Fla.

"Weather very likely was a factor."

Mr. Eastlake, a nationally renowned authority on airline safety, is a Hyde Park native.

He and other experts suspect ice played a role in the crash.

Results of preliminary tests at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., in February indicated icing on the Embraer-120 turboprop plane before it crashed Jan. 9 in Monroe County, Mich.

The flight three crew members left Cincinnati - Northern Kentucky International Airport. Most passengers were from out-of-state. The crew was locally based.

A little-known icing condition called "super-cooled drizzle drops" - which freeze on an aircraft when it flies through clouds containing this condensation - could be a factor, according to Ben Bernstein, an NCAR researcher who worked on the Comair crash tests.

These drops were cited by investigators in the Halloween Night 1994 crash of an American Eagle plane in Roselawn, Ind., which killed all 68 people aboard.

Tests have shown conditions were right for these "drizzle drops" at 4,000 feet, the altitude at which the Comair crew began to lose control.

Those tests are expected to be included in the NTSB findings.

When super-cooled drizzle drops adhere to a plane, they can significantly weight it down before de-icing boots are activated.

Mr. Eastlake and Mr. Bernstein suspect these drops were a factor because the Comair plane apparently approached stall speed moments before the crash.

The NTSB has not publicly ruled out any possible cause, including weather, mechanical malfunctions and errors in pilot performance. Or a combination.

COMPLETE CRASH COVERAGE
PROFILES OF VICTIMS

Victims

First Officer
Kenneth Reece
Fort Wright, Ky.

Flight Attendant
Darinda Ogden Nilsen
Lexington, Ky.

PASSENGERS
Adams, Dexter
Cincinnati

Barrow, Gregory
Detroit

Bransford, Roger
Sandy Springs, Ga.

Brice, Arthur
Brookhaven, Miss.

Brownlee, Christine
Helena, Mont.

Brownlee, Scott
Helena, Mont.

Davis, Geoffrey
Detroit.

DeMarco, Maureen
Englewood, Colo.

Douchard, Greg
Wesson, Miss.

Felteau, Leo
Atlanta

Herman, Mark
Novi, Mich.

Jones, Betty Jean
Detroit

Jones, Charles
McComb, Miss.

McClain, Steven
Waterford, Mich.

Muskovitz, Teri
West Bloomfield, Mich.

Passariello, Kim
Lake Havasu, Ariz.

Raymond, Roy
Twin Falls, Id.

Raymond, Vernamarie
Twin Falls, Id.

Rosiak, Jennifer
Fairbanks, Alaska

Rosiak, Nicholas
Fairbanks, Alaska

Sharangpani, Arati
Holland, Mich.

Stearn, Richard
Whitmore Lake, Mich.

Takenami, Keita
Lexington, Ky.

Thomas, Douglas
Detroit.

Wansedel, Charles
Mount Clemens, Mich.

Zagar, Darlene
Danville, Ky.