Good morning ladies and gentlemen, and welcome.

I am Ellen Engleman, Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, and Chairman of this Board of Inquiry.

Today we are opening a public hearing concerning the accident that occurred on January 8, 2003, at Charlotte, North Carolina, involving Air Midwest flight 5481.

Let me acknowledge that in our audience today are family members of those who lost their lives in this accident. On behalf of the National Transportation Safety Board, and may I also say on behalf of all the parties who have joined this investigation, I want to express our condolences for your loss.

The hearing is being held for the purpose of supplementing the facts, conditions, and circumstances discovered during the on-scene and continuing investigation. This process will assist the Safety Board in determining the probable cause of the accident and in making any recommendations to prevent similar accidents in the future. No determination of cause will be rendered during these proceedings.

While airline accidents are rare events, they are widely publicized and scrutinized by experts around the globe. When an accident such as this does occur, it is the responsibility of the National Transportation Safety Board, with the assistance of the Federal Aviation Administration and other designated parties from government, industry and labor, to find out what happened, why it happened, and how we can prevent this unfortunate event from recurring.

As our Investigator-in-Charge, Lorenda Ward, will relate shortly, this inquiry has taken investigators not just to North Carolina, but to Kansas, West Virginia, Canada, Ohio and California. The volumes of pages of information we've released this morning is the work of scores of investigators representing government and private industry.

The purpose of this hearing is two-fold. First, the issues that will be discussed at this hearing, while technical in nature, serve to assist the Safety Board in developing additional factual information that will be analyzed for the purpose of determining the probable cause of the accident. Secondly, this hearing also provides the opportunity not only to the aviation community, but to the traveling public as well, to see a portion of the total investigative process, and the dedicated efforts being put forth by investigators from many different organizations, to find the cause of this accident.

I want to assure the families of the passengers and crew that the Safety Board will pursue every lead toward an ultimate solution to what caused this accident. But we also are fulfilling our broader mandate to determine the cause of this accident and formulate recommendations to prevent such tragedies in the future on behalf of the millions of passengers in the United States and around the world who use this form of transportation every year.

Public hearings such as this are exercises in accountability:

• accountability on the part of the Safety Board that it is conducting a thorough and fair investigation
• accountability on the part of the FAA that it is adequately regulating the industry
• accountability on the part of the airline that it is operating safely
• accountability on the part of manufacturers as to the design and performance of their products
• accountability on the part of the work force -- including pilots and mechanics -- that they are performing up to the high standards of professionalism expected of them

As previously stated, these proceedings tend to become highly technical affairs, but they are essential in seeking to reassure the public that everything is being done to ensure the safety of the airline industry.

The purpose of this inquiry is not to determine the rights or liability of private parties, and matters dealing with such rights or liability will be excluded from these proceedings.

Over the course of this hearing, we will continue to collect information that will assist the Safety Board in its examination of safety issues arising from this accident. Specifically, we will concentrate on the following issues:

• FAA Notice 8400.40 Results
• Maintenance, Training, Oversight, and Surveillance

At this point, I would like to introduce the other members of the Board:

• Vice-Chairman Mark Rosenker
• Member John Goglia
• Member Carol Carmody
• Member Richard Healing

The Board will be assisted by a Technical Panel consisting of the following Safety Board staff:

• Ms. Lorenda Ward, Investigator in Charge and Hearing Officer
• Mr. John Clark, Director of Aviation Safety
• Mr. Tom Haueter; Deputy Director of Aviation Safety
• Mr. Joe Kolly; Division Chief of Vehicle Performance
• Mr. Steve Carbone, Maintenance Group Chairman
• Dr. Bill Bramble, Human Performance Group
• Dr. Kevin Renze, Aircraft Performance Group Chairman
• Mr. Bob Swaim, Systems Group Chairman
• Mr. Mike Hauf, Systems Group

Mr. Keith Holloway and his colleagues from the Safety Board's Public Affairs Office are here to assist members of the news media.

Ms. Brenda Yager and Ms. Sharon Bryson from the Office of Transportation Disaster Assistance are here to assist any family members in the audience.

Mrs. Carolyn Dargan and Ms. Christine Carey are present to provide administrative support as needed. They will also be providing copies of exhibits to the witnesses.

Neither I nor any other Safety Board personnel will attempt, during this hearing, to analyze the testimony received nor will any attempt be made at this time to determine the probable cause of the accident. Such analyses and cause determinations will be made by the full Safety Board after consideration of all of the evidence gathered during our investigation. The final report on the accident involving flight 5481, reflecting the Safety Board's analyses and probable cause determinations, will be considered for adoption by the full Board at a public meeting here at the Safety Board's headquarters at a later date.

The Safety Board's rules provide for the designation of parties to a public hearing. In accordance with these rules, those persons, governmental agencies, companies, and associations whose participation in the hearing is deemed necessary in the public interest and whose special knowledge will contribute to the development of pertinent evidence are designated as parties. The parties assisting the Safety Board in this hearing have been designated in accordance with these rules.

As I call the name of each party, would the designated spokesperson please give his or her name, title, and affiliation for the record:

Federal Aviation Administration	Mr. Harold Donner
Raytheon Aircraft	Mr. Dean Thompson
Raytheon Aerospace	Mr. Gary Sneary
International Association of Machinists	Mr. Jay Hiles
Air Midwest	Mr. Greg Stephens
Air Line Pilots Association	Mr. Dan Sicchio
Structural Modification & Repair Technicians, Inc.	Mr. Brian Peterson

I want to thank publicly all of the other private, municipal, county, state and federal agencies that have supported the Safety Board throughout the investigation.

On May 15, 2003, the Board of Inquiry held a prehearing conference at the Safety Board's facilities. It was attended by the Safety Board's Technical Panel and representatives of the parties to this hearing. During that conference, the areas of inquiry and the scope of the issues to be explored at this hearing were delineated and the selection of the witnesses to testify on these issues was finalized.

Copies of the witness list developed at the prehearing conference are available in the foyer. There are numerous exhibits that will be used in this proceeding. Copies of the exhibits may be ordered through our Public Inquiries Branch at 202-314-6551, and can be found on the Board's web site, http://www.ntsb.gov.

The witnesses testifying at this hearing have been selected because of their ability to provide the best available information on the issues of aviation safety pertinent to this accident investigation.

The Investigator in Charge of the accident investigation will summarize certain facts about the accident and the investigative activities that have taken place to date. Following this, the first witness will be called.

The witnesses will be questioned first by the Board's Technical Panel, then by the designated spokesperson for each party to the hearing, finally followed by the Board of Inquiry.

As Chairman of the Board of Inquiry, I will be responsible for the conduct of the hearing. I will make all rulings on the admissibility of evidence, and all such rulings will be final.

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 for inspection at the Board's Washington office. Anyone wanting to purchase the transcript, including parties to the investigation, should contact the court reporter directly.