Complex sentence: The defense called only one witness, tug operator Franklin Tejeda, who said that he never relinquished control of the plane since there was a steel rod attached to the nose wheel, the pilots could not steer the plane.
Split into simpler sentences: The defense called only one witness, tug operator Franklin Tejeda, who said that he never relinquished control of the plane since there was a steel rod attached to the nose wheel. As long as the rod was attached, Tejeda said, the pilots could not steer the plane.