With the last witness having been heard, this concludes this phase of the Safety Board's investigation.

In closing, I want to emphasize that this investigation will remain open to receive, at any time, new and pertinent information concerning the issues presented. The Board, may at its discretion, again reopen the hearing in order that such information may be made a part of the public record.

On behalf of the National Transportation Safety Board, I thank the Parties for their cooperation, not only during this proceeding but also throughout the entire investigation of this accident. Also, I want to express sincere appreciation to the many people who have provided their talents and their time for this hearing, especially the technical panel, the technical support staff, the representatives of the parties, and our court reporter. The work involved in conducting a public hearing requires tremendous effort on everyone's part. I am grateful that so many of you willingly gave of your time and yourselves to make this forum possible.

To the families of the crew, thank you for being here. This hearing was no doubt painful for you at times, but your presence here has served as a powerful reminder to all of us of the tragic consequences of any transportation accident. I hope you leave this hearing with a sense that changes are already being made and that everyone here is committed to work diligently to prevent similar accidents in the future.

Of course, the inevitable question is: When will we complete this investigation? We can't answer that yet. There is more work to be done before the staff will present the Board with a draft final report. For now, I will estimate that the earliest we can expect to receive this draft report is this winter.

The record of the investigation, including the transcript of the hearing and all exhibits entered into the record, will become part of the Safety Board's public docket on this accident and will be available from the Safety Board Public Inquiries Office or website. Anyone wanting to purchase the transcript, including the parties to the investigation, may contact the court reporter directly.

I now declare this hearing to be in recess indefinitely.