The Detroit News

| ZOOM |

WASHINGTON - The National Transportation Safety Board, the federal agency in charge of investigating plane crashes, dispatched an 11-member team of investigators to the crash site near Monroe, Mich., late Thursday, a spokesman said.

The investigation will be headed by John Hammerschmidt, one of the five members of the NTSB who rotate leading crash probes.

''Typically, the (NTSB) office closest to the accident (in this case, Chicago) will go help secure the scene while the team from Washington gets together and launches,'' said Don Libera, who answered the phone at the NTSB public affairs office and said he was ''helping out'' from another office.

The federal investigators will examine all of the debris and take witness accounts in an effort to determine the cause of the crash.

Usually investigators place a priority on locating the black boxes - the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder, which might provide details of the situation right before the plane crashed.

Investigators will look for residue, the way the debris scattered and other signs that might point to a cause or rule out others.

Often in a crash investigation, the NTSB team is accompanied by representatives of the airline company and the union of flight attendants.

The NTSB probe will continue in Washington long after investigators leave the crash scene. Sometimes, Congress calls for public hearings to discuss airline safety following a crash.

The safety board was formed in 1968 to determine the cause of civilian aviation accidents and make recommendations to prevent them from happening again.

The board makes recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration. an agency within the Department of Transportation that promotes air safety. The FAA can accept or reject NTSB recommendations.

CRASH
PLANE
SERVICE RECORD
VICTIMS
WEATHER
COMAIR
CRASH SITE
AIRPORT

Victims

First Officer
Kenneth Reece

Flight Attendant
Darinda Ogden

PASSENGERS
Dexter Adams
Cincinnati

Gregory Barrow
Detroit

Roger Bransford
Atlanta

Arthur Brice
Jackson, Mich.

Christine Brownlee
Helena, Mont.

Scott Brownlee
Helena, Mont.

Geoffrey Davis
Detroit

Maureen Demarco
Denver

Greg Douchard
Jackson, Miss.

Leo Felteau
Atlanta

Mark Herman
Detroit

Betty Jean Jones
Detroit

Charles Jones
Macomb, Miss.

Steven McClain
Detroit

Teri Muskovitz
Detroit

Kim Passariello
Detroit

Roy Raymond
Twin Falls, Idaho

Vernamarie Raymond
Twin Falls, Idaho

Jennifer Rosiak
Pensacola, Fla.

Nicholas Rosiak
Pensacola, Fla.

Arati Sharangpani
Colts Neck, N.J.

Richard Stearn
Detroit

Keita Takenami
Colts Neck, N.J.

Douglas A. Thomas
Detroit

Charles Wansedel
Detroit

Darlene Zagar
Danville, Ky.