Politics, capital flight eclipse "Russia's Davos" (Reuters)

ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) – The Kremlin's annual investment pitch to the world was overshadowed by one uncomfortable fact: Tens of billions of dollars are fleeing Russian assets ahead of the March 2012 election.

Russia may be one of the few places where foreigners can buy into both swift growth and vast mineral resources, but some local investors have been hedging against the country's tumultuous political history by buying dollars.

Behind the spin of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, which ended on Saturday, investors grappled with two questions: Who will rule Russia after the election, and why have there been net capital outflows of $55.6 billion over the past eight months?

President Dmitry Medvedev gave an answer of sorts.

He laid down his credentials for a potential re-election bid by warning that unless "my choice" of modernization is implemented, Russia faces stagnation two decades after the fall of the Soviet Union.

"The notorious stability could hide another period of stagnation," Medvedev told investors, impressing many but also prompting some to ask whether he would finally start acting on the many promises he has made but often failed to keep.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is viewed by most Russians as the paramount leader, was silent in Moscow.

In previous years, Putin has upstaged Medvedev during the forum by berating oligarchs or sealing big energy deals. This year, the 58-year-old former KGB spy met the health minister and the head of Russia's national archives in the capital.

Putin and Medvedev, 45, have not said which of them will run but the two -- allies who have worked together for two decades -- have occasionally appeared to differ in recent months, prompting speculation about a split between Russia's leaders.

At the forum, Russia's answer to Davos, Medvedev brushed off a question on whether he would run but said there remained "very little time to wait" for a formal announcement.

"The two potential candidates are not 100 percent the same. It is visible not only in their political statements but also in their ages," said Anatoly Chubais, who headed late President Boris Yeltsin's campaign in the 1996 election.

"But at the same time, it would be wrong to consider these two candidates as opposite to each other."

BANK ON A BOOM?

Russian officials played down political risks to the $1.5 trillion economy, telling investors they could miss out on profits if they waited for the election.

These officials point to growth rates which the International Monetary Fund forecast will make Russia a $3.2 trillion economy by the end of 2016, or the fifth-largest economy after the United States, China, Japan and Germany.

"There are certainly clients of ours who think there could be dramatic change depending on the outcome of the elections, but our advice to them is usually not to wait," said Christopher Barter, head of Goldman Sachs in Russia.

Capital flight has been draining Russia's economy. Since the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991, Russia has had only two years of net capital inflows -- in 2006 and 2007.

But with oil, the lifeblood of the Russian economy, trading at more than $100 a barrel, investors have been puzzled by a return to such sharp net capital outflows, which the central bank forecasts will reach $30 billion-$35 billion this year.

"With international clients, the elections are having a small impact," Stephen Jennings, CEO of Renaissance Capital, told a breakfast discussion.

But Jennings, who has worked in Russia for two decades, said Russian investors were moving assets abroad because of perceptions of heightened political risk.

"You see that in the capital flight numbers," he said.

First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov called the widely quoted capital outflow figures "dodgy" and said much of that money was not fleeing Russia, but merely being changed into U.S. dollars and kept in accounts in Russia.

"Russia continues to be out of fashion -- we are very late with reforms. We need to make a lot of swift movements to satisfy the foreign investor," said Sberbank Deputy CEO Bella Zlatkis, a former deputy financial minister.

"If we do not do this, then the capital outflows will continue despite the high oil prices," she told Reuters.

(Additional reporting by Kyril Sukhotski, Oksana Kobzeva and Katya Golubkova; Editing by Dan Williams)

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Endeavour completes final mission; one flight left for NASA

Space shuttle Endeavour landed Wednesday morning at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Endeavour's 16-day mission took it to the international space stationThe retirement will not end "the human need to explore," says Cmdr. Mark KellyThe shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to take off on NASA's final space shuttle mission on July 8

Kennedy Space Center, Florida (CNN) -- The space shuttle Endeavour landed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Wednesday, completing its 25th and final mission -- the next-to-last mission for NASA's 30-year-old space shuttle program.

"Welcome home, Endeavour," Mission Control in Houston said.

The spacecraft touched down at 2:34 a.m. ET at the end of a nearly 16-day mission to the International Space station.

"It's sad to see her land for the last time, but she really has a great legacy," said Cmdr. Mark Kelly after Endeavour rolled to a stop in the darkness of a warm Florida morning

The youngest of the shuttles retires after 25 space flights. During 299 days in space, Endeavour orbited the earth 4,671 times and logged almost 122.9 million miles, NASA said. It first went into service in 1993.

Endeavour unlocked from the International Space Station late Sunday after spending more than 11 days linked to the orbiting laboratory, where the astronauts installed a cosmic ray detector. The $2 billion, 15,000-pound machine is already at work "gathering information that could improve our understanding of the universe," Kelly said.

"The retirement of Endeavour and the shuttle fleet will not end the human need to explore," Kelly said in comments from space that were posted on NASA's website. "It is and always will be part of who we are. The United States will build other spaceships better than those of today. Even if they are years in the future, they will nevertheless increase our knowledge of the world, generate an enormous benefit to the economy and inspire our children."

On July 8, space shuttle Atlantis is to make NASA's final shuttle flight.

Thousands of people turned out Tuesday night at Kennedy Space Center to watch it make the three-mile trip from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pad.

"Look how majestic it looks rolling out to the launch pad," said astronaut Sandy Magnus to reporters. "Look at that and see what we can do when we put our minds to it."

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Volcano forces Barca onto early flight

Barcelona are bringing forward their travel plans ahead of Saturday's Champions League final at Wembley Stadium.Volcanic ash cloud forces Spanish champions onto early flight to London
Barcelona meet Manchester United in Champions League final on Saturday at Wembley

Barcelona FC will travel to London on Tuesday evening ahead of Saturday's Champions League final because of fears Iceland's volcanic ash cloud could disrupt their travel plans later in the week.

Volcanic ash heads for Heathrow

"Due to the uncertainty caused by ash from the Grimsvotn volcano, the first team of Barcelona will travel to London on Tuesday at 10pm," read a statement on the club's web site, Tuesday.

Will volcano cause a repeat of travel chaos?

Players and coaching staff had initially planned to travel on Thursday, 48 hours ahead of their clash against Manchester United at Wembley Stadium, but plumes of ash are already beginning to disrupt flights in Scotland and the north of England.

Last year, Barcelona were forced to travel 1,000 kilometers by coach to play the first leg of their semi-final tie with Inter Milan -- a game they lost 3-1 -- when an ash cloud from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano caused widespread flight disruption across Europe in April 2010.

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Air France crash flight data recoverable, say investigators

NEW: Discovering there is data on the recorders is "excellent news," investigators sayAll the information on the flight data recorder is recovered, as are cockpit conversationsThe data recorders were pulled up from the bottom of the Atlantic nearly two years after the crashAir France 447 went down in June 2009, killing all 228 people aboard

Paris (CNN) -- Investigators trying to determine why an Air France plane crashed mysteriously two years ago have recovered the complete contents of the flight data recorder and the last two hours of cockpit conversation, they announced Monday.

It will take several weeks to analyze the data, French air accident experts said.

All 228 people aboard Air France 447 were killed when the Airbus A330 belly-flopped into the ocean June 1, 2009, in stormy weather. The cause of the crash is still not known.

Discovering that there was data on the recorders "is excellent news. It is really going to help us work out what happened on that plane," said Martine Del Bono, spokeswoman for France's Bureau of Investigation and Analysis (BEA).

The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder were found at the beginning of May after an unprecedented series of submarine searches of a mountain range 3,900 meters (12,700 feet) under the ocean. They were brought to the surface and taken to Paris by ship and plane.

The investigators also recovered two bodies from the fuselage -- after finding only about 50 bodies in the days immediately after the crash.

They will not bring more bodies up from the ocean if they cannot identify the two they already have, they said Thursday.

Those two bodies are being examined to see if there is enough DNA to identify them, investigators said, adding that they hope to have results by Wednesday.

If they can identify the remains, they will consider bringing up other bodies from the wreckage.

The bulk of the plane was located earlier this year and contains many more human remains, according to investigators.

Recovering more bodies will be a difficult task, with miles of cable required to bring each one up over a period of three hours, they said.

Investigators also brought an engine and an avionics bay containing computers to the surface, they said.

The pilots of Air France 447 lost contact with air traffic controllers on June 1, 2009, while flying across an area of the Atlantic known for severe turbulence, officials said. But exactly what caused the plane to plunge into the ocean remains a mystery.

The plane slammed into the water while en route from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris, falling so fast that air masks did not have time to deploy.

The fuselage was discovered in April with bodies still inside, investigators said.

Some relatives of those who died have expressed reservations about remains being brought to the surface.

Last month Robert Soulas, head of a support group for families of flight victims, said: "For me, personally I would like to leave the bodies of my children, my two children, on the seabed."

Other relatives have called for the bodies to be recovered.

CNN's Ayesha Durgahee, Catherine Clifford and Niki Cook contributed to this report.

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Syrian town shelled amid refugee flight

Casualties were reported along the borderLebanon is going to assess the needs of the refugeesOver a two-month period, as many as 850 people died

(CNN) -- The two-month-long tumult across Syria echoed along the Lebanese border on Saturday as the regime's troops shelled a town and hundreds of refugees hustled to safety into Lebanon.

Syrian soldiers on Saturday shelled Tal Kalakh, a town near the Lebanese border, witnesses told CNN.

Injured Syrians were taken to Lebanese hospitals. One man died and his body was returned to Syria in a funeral procession, residents said.

At least four people were being treated in hospitals. One of the injured, a Syrian man in his 20s, was shot and severely wounded, Ayman Abdel Kader, emergency room doctor in Akkar-Rahal hospital in northern Lebanon told CNN.

Interrupted gunfire could be heard into the evening from the Lebanese northern border village of Wadi Khalid across the Syrian border villages.

Ambulances for the Red Cross stood by to transfer the injured to Lebanese hospitals.

About 700 people from Syria fled to the northern Lebanese village of Mkaybleh, the mayor of the village said Saturday. Those fleeing were mostly women and children, said Mahamoud Khazaal, the mayor.

Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said at present, the refugee flow into Lebanon has been "very small" -- about 1,000 people.

She told CNN Saturday that the Syrian refugees are being hosted by people they know in Lebanon, such as friends and relatives.

As such, she said, "there's been no request for humanitarian assistance," but there are contingency plans if needed.

She said the numbers of Syrians who have crossed the border into Turkey are also small, about 250.

Syria hosts about 300,000 refugees from Iraq, where people fled in droves during the Iraq war.

"But so far we have not seen they are trying to leave Syria," she said.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has ordered government officials to assess the needs of the Syrians taking refuge in Lebanese villages.

Demonstrations have rippled across the country since mid-March, and protesters demanding political freedoms have been met by a powerful security crackdown.

A U.N. official said on Friday that reports from non-government organizations suggest that somewhere between 700 and 850 people have been killed since the start of the protests" and "thousands of other people have reportedly been arrested."

Violent clashes after demonstrations on Friday left at least four people dead, a human rights advocate said.

According to Ammar Qurabi, chairman of the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria, three were killed by gunfire from security forces during those clashes.

The fighting, Qurabi said in a statement, also prevented many people from attending Friday prayers because mosques were surrounded by tanks.

The regime has blamed armed groups for the violence. Minister of Information Adnan Mahmoud said on Friday that 98 soldiers and security forces and 22 police have been killed, according to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency.

But the demonstrators, emboldened by the tough crackdown and the mass anti-government rallies in other Arab nations this year, have blamed killings on the government.

President Bashar al-Assad has responded to grievances by lifting the country's 48-year-old state of emergency and abolishing the state security court, both of which were key demands of the demonstrators.

The emergency law permitted the government to make preventive arrests and override constitutional and penal code statutes. The security court was a special body that prosecuted people regarded as challenging the government.

But protesters have said more needs to be done.

Quoted by SANA, Mahmoud confirmed that a comprehensive national dialogue will be held in various provinces, and that the government is considering the implementation of political, economic and social reforms.

Life has been slowly returning to normal, including the volatile cities of Banias and Daraa, Mahmoud said.

He said army units "began to gradually depart from Banias and surroundings while the army units deployed in Daraa and surroundings are completing the gradual depart to return to their main camps."

Mahmoud said the United Nations and other humanitarian groups want access in Syria to provide humanitarian aid to people in Daraa, but he argued there was no shortage of food and medicine.

"We have informed the U.N. that there was no need for any assistance to Daraa," the minister said.

The Syrian crackdown has drawn condemnation across the world. A demonstration in support of the protesters is planned on Saturday near the United Nations in New York.

CNN's Rima Maktabi, Nada Husseini and Joe Sterling contributed to this report

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Air France Flight 447 unit retrieved

NEW: Air France calls the recovery "very significant"British aviation expert skeptical data remains; French expert hopefulAll 228 people aboard the Air France Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris were killedThe Airbus A330 plunged into the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009

(CNN) -- The memory unit that may tell why an Air France jet plunged into the Atlantic nearly two years ago was recovered from the bottom of the ocean Sunday, France's Bureau of Investigation and Analysis (BEA) said.

A remote-controlled submarine, known as the Remora 6000, located the memory unit Sunday morning and it was lifted on board the search ship Ile de Sein six hours later, the Paris-based BEA said.

All 228 people aboard the Air France Flight 447 were killed when the plane fell into the ocean on the way from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on June 1, 2009.

The submarine found the orange-colored flight data recorder's chassis Wednesday, the second day of an operation that also hopes to retrieve bodies from the wreckage site. The memory unit was part of the recorder, but was not attached when it was found.

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The flight recorder chassis is found last week

The finds come more than three weeks after search teams found the tail section of the Airbus A330.

Air France, in a written statement Sunday, called the discovery "very significant."

"We hope that the BEA, in charge of the technical investigation, will be able to provide answers to questions that relatives of the victims, Air France and the entire airline industry have been asking for nearly two years as to why this tragic accident occurred," the airline's statement said.

A British aviation consultant said he is skeptical about how useful the memory unit will be to investigators, considering it has been sitting between 2,000 to 4,000 meters (6,562 to 13,124 feet) below the ocean's surface for 23 months.

"If you were to throw a computer into the ocean, imagine how all the parts would eventually split and you have the corrosive effects of seawater and the depths involved," Phil Seymour, chief operating officer of the International Bureau of Aviation, said Thursday.

Father of crash victim: Leave remains

"It may be that the more wreckage they find will help them to piece it all together, which bit by bit could help them build a picture of what caused the plane to come down," Seymour said.

Martine Del Bono, a spokeswoman for the Paris-based BEA, says there is a good chance the memory unit, which records any instructions sent to the aircraft's electronic systems, will still hold retrievable data.

The Airbus A330's pilots lost contact with air traffic controllers while flying across an area of the Atlantic Ocean known for constant bands of severe turbulence, officials said.

Q&A: Will mystery ever be solved?

But exactly what caused the plane to plunge into the sea has remained a mystery, with only small portions of the wreckage and a handful of bodies found in the remote area where it went down.

CNN's Ayesha Durgahee contributed to this report.

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Plane crash victim's dad waits for flight safety regulations

Airline safety report cardSTORY HIGHLIGHTS The father of a Colgan Air crash victim wants more progress on new safety rules
A rule addressing pilot fatigue has not been finalized or implemented
FAA says it has implemented safety improvements that did not require regulationsRELATED TOPICSAir TravelFederal Aviation AdministrationYou probably have your own list of complaints about flying. We do, and we're looking at solutions in a series called "Fix My Flight." Send us a tweet using #FixMyFlight and we'll share some on TV.

(CNN) -- Ken Mellett's brow is furrowed as he gravely speaks of the need for more stringent air safety rules.

"I don't want to have another family go through what we're going through as we continue to grieve for our son two years later," he said.

Coleman Mellett, 34, was onboard Continental Connection Flight 3407, operated by Colgan Air, when it crashed outside Buffalo, New York, in February 2009. Mellett, a guitarist for jazz musician Chuck Mangione, and 49 others were killed.

His father is frustrated that while regulators are working to improve air safety rules, there are still no new regulations in place.

"The process and timeline is extremely painstaking," Mellett said.

Federal Aviation Administration chief Randy Babbitt, a former airline captain, has made updating pilot fatigue rules one of his highest priorities.

In a process that has been under way since the Buffalo crash, the issue has been addressed in several ways:

-- A yearlong National Transportation Safety Board investigation pointed to pilot error.

-- The Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010 passed. It mandates FAA impose new regulations.

-- FAA convened airlines and pilots to negotiate new rules.

-- That led FAA to propose pilots have at least nine hours off between flights -- an increase of an hour -- more rest weekly, and monthly and annual flight time restrictions. Rest periods would also factor in time zones crossed, number of takeoffs and landings and the time of day the pilot flies.

-- As with all proposed regulations, there was a mandatory 60-day comment period.

-- Now FAA is writing a final rule to be issued no later than August 1, although airlines will then be permitted more time to implement the new regulations.

"To say you don't get frustrated trying to get things changed would be an understatement," said Capt. Lee Moak, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, which has a history of confrontation with the airline industry over pilot rest rules. "It's been a long time coming."

The FAA said it moved quickly to implement safety improvements that did not require new regulation.

"The FAA has taken action to strengthen pilot hiring, training and performance over the last two years," the agency said.

Administrator Babbitt's 2009 Call to Action on Airline Safety included inspections of airline training, requests for major carriers to better coordinate safety programs with regional airlines that fly their short-haul flights, and an appeal for airlines to have pilot applicants disclose their full FAA records. (Flight 3407 Capt. Marvin Renslow did not inform Colgan Air that he had repeatedly failed flight tests.)

Other steps to improve air safety also are under way. Their timeline is lengthier than the pilot fatigue issue.

FAA later this year will issue another rule requiring airlines to teach pilots to recover from a stall and provide re-training for aviators who have displayed poor performance.

Congress is demanding a requirement for more flight experience to earn the highest pilot license, known as an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate -- at least 1500 flight hours, six times the current minimum. The FAA has until August 2013 to issue that rule.

"The timeline it takes to get these things enacted and deal with bureaucracy is a real challenge to speed and urgency," Mellett said. "All of us from flight 3407 have urgency because the next accident could be tomorrow."

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NASA cutting contractors at Marshall Space Flight Center

The Marshall Space Flight Center,has about 2,500 government and 3,500 contract employees. STORY HIGHLIGHTSSpace agency says it is cutting because of budget constraintsEssential Center functions will continue, spokesman saysCenter is best known for developing transportation and propulsion technologies (CNN) -- NASA said Thursday, because of budget constraints, between 150 and 300 contractor positions will be eliminated at the Marshall Space Flight Center, the agency's Huntsville, Alabama facility.

"Funding to Center support contractors will be reduced and that will result in reductions to the contractor workforce here," NASA said in a statement.

Marshall spokesman Dominic Amatore said the furloughs were not wholly unexpected.

"Our director back in January talked about budget issues and at that time, told employees about forming groups to look at expenditures, especially procurement money," he said.

Amatore said Marshall Center director Robert Lightfoot delivered an all-hands message on Tuesday to announce the layoffs.

"The cuts are broadly across the center," Amatore said. "The jobs that are directly affected by this budget involve center operations and maintenance, so it really cuts across the operation."

The contract employees will get additional information from the organizations they work in and, ultimately, from the specific contract companies they work for, Amatore said.

The facility's main priorities are not expected to be affected.

"Marshall Space Flight Center officials have conducted a comprehensive review of all institutional procurement and other expenditures and established funding priorities, ensuring that essential Center functions are maintained and that operational capabilities are in no way compromised," a space agency statement said.

Marshall supports a variety of initiatives for NASA, including engineering, science and space operations, but is best known for developing transportation and propulsion technologies.

The furloughs will be implemented by the end of May, Amatore said.

Amatore said Lightfoot addressed the possible government shutdown Tuesday, and that NASA would identify a "certain core group" that would be essential to operations.

Marshall currently has approximately 2,500 government employees and 3,500 contract employees, he said.

In a statement, Lightfoot said, "As NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden has said, tough times require tough choices. Marshall Center is doing what is necessary to live within our budget and retain the essential capabilities needed to support NASA's mission. We know this is a difficult time for members of our contractor workforce who are being affected by reductions and we intend to assist them in their career transition as much as possible."

In February 2010, President Barack Obama announced plans to conclude the Constellation rocket program, which led to 900 contractor job cuts at Marshall last year.

Despite the layoffs, Amatore said employees remain concentrated on the job at hand.

"We're very focused on flying safely. We've got a space shuttle launch coming up this month," he said. "NASA employees are very dedicated, very focused."

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Flight lands with 3-foot hole in fuselage

A 3-foot hole formed in the fuselage of Southwest Airlines Flight 813 on Friday. STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Passengers arrive in Sacramento, California, on a second plane A 3- to 4-foot hole is discovered in a plane's fuselageFAA: The captain made a rapid descent from 36,000 feet to 11,000 feetA passenger commends airline personnel for their control of the situationRELATED TOPICSAir TravelSouthwest Airlines Inc.Are you there? Share your story and images on CNN iReport. Read more about this story from CNN affiliate KOVR.

(CNN) -- A Southwest Airlines flight landed safely at a military base in Yuma, Arizona, on Friday with what passengers described as a 3-foot hole in the fuselage of the Boeing 737.

"I heard a loud popping sound about three or four minutes before it blew open on us," passenger Greg Hansen told CNN.

"(Then) a big explosion happened. A big noise, and from there, you felt some of the air being sucked out. It happened right behind me, in the row behind me and it covers about two and a half rows," he said from seat 11C.

Hansen, 41, a regional sales manager for a biotech company, was flying home to Sacramento, California, from a business trip. Some people panicked and screamed as the blue sky and sun began to shine through the cabin in mid-flight, he said.

"Most people were just white knuckles holding onto the arm rests. The pilots did a great job and were under control to get us to a manageable level," he said.

But just behind him, Hansen said he could see the jagged edge of the aircraft where the rivets used to be.

"You can see the insulation and wiring. The interior ceiling panel was bouncing up and down with the air," he said.

"It was surreal, when you're riding in a modern aircraft. You're used to being enclosed and not having the window rolled down," he said.

Hansen described the hole as being about 3 or 4 feet long and about a foot wide.

Passenger Brenda Reese told CNN affiliates KCRA and KOVR she began to fear for her life.

"I was texting my sister to make certain that she told my kids that I loved them," Reese said.

Southwest Flight 812 made an emergency landing at Yuma Marine Corps Air Station/International Airport at 7:07 p.m. ET.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the captain made a rapid, controlled descent from 36,000 to about 11,000 feet after the cabin lost pressure.

"We do not know the cause of the decompression," said Ian Gregor of the FAA.

Hansen said the incident took place about 35 minutes into the flight. He says that it took about 45 seconds or a minute before the oxygen masks came down after the hole blew open.

"The crew was pretty calm about it. They walked around and checked on everyone," he said. "But it wasn't like the movies where papers get sucked out of the hole, but you could feel it and hear the noise."

One of the passengers told KOVR that the incident occurred shortly after flight attendants took drink orders.

"There was a hole in the fuselage about 3 feet long," said the passenger, identified only as Cindy. "You could see the insulation and the wiring. You could see a tear the length of one of the ceiling panels."

Southwest said in a statement that the flight crew "discovered a hole in the top of the aircraft."

Hansen said that most of the passengers were complaining of a pain in their eardrums from a rapid descent.

Southwest Airlines said only one injury was reported.

"There are no reported customer injuries," according to a statement released by the airline. "One of the flight attendants, however, received a minor injury upon descent."

Hansen said one male flight attendant appeared to fall and was bleeding from a facial injury.

Yuma International Airport spokeswoman Gen Grosse said passengers were tended to and given refreshments because the temperature on the tarmac was close to 100 degrees.

Hansen said passengers deplaned and boarded another Southwest Airlines plane for Sacramento. He said the airline offered passengers accommodations in Yuma, but did not know if any passengers chose to stay.

The second flight landed in Sacramento on Friday night.

But one passenger, Debbie Downey, opted to take a small Cessna aircraft back to the Phoenix area.

"Just wanted a change of scenery," said Downey, who was traveling with her husband. "My uncle is a retired pilot with Northwest Airlines and offered to come get us in his Cessna 182."

In a written statement, Boeing spokeswoman Julie O'Donnell declined to comment on possible causes of the incident.

"Boeing is dedicated to the safety of its airplanes and the people who fly on them," O'Donnell said. "We are providing technical assistance to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board as it investigates the incident. In accordance with international convention, we cannot speculate on either the cause or whether this incident is similar to or different from anything in the past; any questions about the investigation must be directed to the NTSB."

The NTSB said an investigative team will arrive in Yuma on Saturday.

CNN's John Branch, Rich Phillips, Deborah Doft and Greg Morrison contributed to this report.

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