NEW ORLEANS, LA., 14-FEB-03 -- Media representatives will have the opportunity to cover the arrival of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board at General Aviation at Lakefront Airport on Saturday, February 15. Retired Navy Admiral Harold W. Gehman, Jr., board chairman, and other members of the board are scheduled to arrive at about 9 a.m. CST.

Board members will spend the day at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility where Lockheed Martin builds the Space Shuttle External Tank.

The board will depart at approximately 5 p.m.

The independent board is charged with determining what caused the destruction of the Space Shuttle Columbia and the loss of its seven-member crew on February 1 during reentry.

Board members accompanying Admiral Gehman include:

• Rear Admiral Stephen Turcotte, Commander, U.S. Naval Safety Center, Norfolk, Va.
• Major General John L. Barry, Director, Plans and Programs, Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
• Major General Kenneth W. Hess, U.S. Air Force Chief of Safety, Washington
• Dr. James N. Hallock, Aviation Safety Division Chief, U.S. Department of Transportation, Cambridge, Mass.
• Steven B. Wallace, Director, Office of Accident Investigation, Federal Aviation Administration, Washington
• Scott Hubbard, Director NASA Ames Research Center, Calif.
• Roger E. Tetrault, former Chairman of McDermott International, Inc.
• Brigadier General Duane Deal, Commander 21st Space Wing, Peterson AFB, Colo.

Media representatives wishing to cover the board’s arrival should be at General Aviation at Lakefront Airport by 8:30 a.m. Saturday, February 15. Directions to General Aviation: When arriving at Lakefront Airport on Stars and Stripes Blvd., go past the main airport building, then past Lloyd Stearman road, then turn left on Sikorsky Drive just before the overpass and Bally’s Casino. Drive ? mile down Sikorsky and turn left at the Navy plane and proceed to the security gate.