After swerving nearly a mile down the concrete and skidding off the end of the runway and across wet grass, it was still traveling about 100 mph, investigators said. Sailing off the top of the embankment, the plane traveled 500 feet, partly supported by a galvanized-steel walkway that extends onto the river. As gravity pulled the plane down, it collapsed the walkway, then slammed into the steel stanchions that support the walkway. The walkway ripped one side of the plane open, and stanchions tore the plane to pieces. Investigators all but cleared the runway as a contributing factor Friday.
Investigators still wonder about the flight crew's long day.
The safety board is gathering information on the activities of Buschmann and Origel and the four flight attendants during the 72 hours before the crash. Meanwhile, some survivors of Flight 1420 and their families saw the remains of American's MD-82 on Friday morning. A chartered Arrow bus with a police escort took the survivors to the end of the runway. From there, they could see the wreckage below through a chain-link fence. Hay bales, surrounded by three sprays of brightly colored gladiola and chrysanthemums, provided an altar for a brief memorial ceremony.