2A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, January 9, 2003 NATION WORLD Commuter crash kills 21 in N.C. -:zt. . NEWS ImBRIEF ## n CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - A commuter plane taking off in clear weather yesterday veered sharply back toward the airport and crashed into the side of a hangar, bursting into flames and killing all 21 people aboard. The cause of the nation's first deadly airline acci- dent in more than a year was not immediately clear. Aviation officials said the pilot reported an unspeci- fied emergency to the tower just before the crash. US Airways Express Flight 5481 hit the corner of the hangar at full throttle moments after leaving Char- lotte-Douglas International Airport for Greer, S.C., officials said. No one on the ground was injured. Dee Addison, who works at an airport business 500 yards away, ran outside after hearing a boom. "It was like a frenzy. People were running out of the (hangar)," she said. "At the time we didn't know a plane had actually crashed. It didn't even look like a plane. It was totally demolished." Heavy smoke poured from the wreckage for hours, so thick "you could taste it in your mouth," Addison said. The US Airways hangar was scorched and battered. The Beech 1900 twin-engine turboprop was carry- ing 19 passengers and two crew members. It took off to the south, then cut back toward the airport, airport director Jerry Orr said. The pilot, Katie Leslie, contacted the tower to report an emergency, said Greg Martin, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman. But the trans- mission was cut short and the emergency wasn't identified, he said. Investigators believed they had found the flight data recorder and were looking for the cockpit voice recorder, said John Goglia, a National Transportation Safety Board member. The FBI said there were no immediate indications of terrorism. The weather at the airport was clear at the time, with winds of only 8 mph, said Rodney Hinson, a National Weather Service meteorologist. The flight originated in Lynchburg, Va., and was bound for the Greenville-Spartanburg airport in Greer, only 80 miles away from Charlotte. Goglia said none of the passengers started their trip in Char- lotte, though some may have boarded there after transferring from other flights. Businessman Buddy Puckett of Greenville, S.C., was awaiting the arrival of a friend and client, Gary Gezzer of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He sent a co-worker to the Greer airport to pick up Gezzer, only to learn he had been killed. Puckett said he would fly to Florida to be with Gezzer's family. "He was not only a client, he was also a very, very good friend," Puckett said. The plane, built in 1996, was operated by Mesa Air Lines under the US Airways Express name. It had flown 15,000 hours and performed 21,000 take- offs and landings. FAA records show the aircraft was involved in five in-flight incidents that the NTSB said could affect safe operations. In one incident, the right engine lost oil pressure in November 2000 and the crew had to shut it down. The plane landed safely and the engine was replaced. The aircraft also reported 10 service difficulties, most of them minor. In November, the company reported a leaking fuel pump that was replaced. In May, a hydraulic power pack was replaced after the left main landing gear wouldn't retract during takeoff. The FAA has issued nearly two dozen airworthiness Ar PPH10 Debris is strewn across a US Airways hangar after a commuter plane crashed into it at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport directives on the 1900-D since 1994, warning of prob- lems that must be addressed if found in an aircraft. A maintenance alert for twin-engine Beech 1900 turboprops issued in August said attachment bolts for the vertical stabilizer had been found loose on one plane. And a directive issued in November warned that screws could come loose and interfere with the horizontal stabilizer. There have been eight fatal accidents involving Beech 1900s in 40 years, according to NTSB records. Three people were killed in the most recent crash of a Beech 1900C, in Eagleton, Ark., on Dec. 9. 1 Deadline 'ERE SALEM VILLAGE, Israel.... Sharon denies alleged financial wrongdoing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon yesterday denounced reports that he is under investigation for receiving $1.5 million from a South Africa-based businessman, calling it slander designed to prevent his re-election. The Haaretz daily reported Tuesday that Sharon and his son Gilad were under police investigation over funds received from Cyril Kern, who has been a close friend since the 1948 war that established the Jewish state. Israel's attorney general confirmed yesterday that Israel has asked South Africa for assistance in the case. On Tuesday Sharon dispatched aides to deny any wrongdoing and explain that the money was a loan that was properly reported. But as pressure grew on the prime minister to speak out himself, he addressed the issue during a campaign tour in northern Israel yesterday, claiming the reports were politically motivated. "We're talking about a vicious political slander," Sharon told reporters. "I will disprove this slander with documents and facts. Those who are spreading this political libel have one aim: to bring down the prime minister." Israeli Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein, speaking to Army Radio yesterday, confirmed the investigation but also criticized the leak as politi- cally motivated. "The motive is the timing of the elections and the current situation," he said. JERUSALEM Gunman from Syria killed by Israeli troops Israeli troops shot and killed a gunman who infiltrated from Syria yesterday, an unusual incident on a border that has been calm for decades. Pressure increased on Israel, meanwhile, to reverse course and allow a Palestin- ian delegation to attend a conference in London designed to ease tensions and pro- mote Palestinian reform. Israeli soldiers exchanged fire with an armed man who crossed into the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights from Syria, killing him and capturing a sec- ond infiltrator, who was unarmed, Israeli area commander Brig. Gen. Avi Mizrahi said. A third man fired from inside Syria, but "we didn't fire back because didn't want to make the situation worse,"he said. It was a rare occurrence on the Israel-Syria border, though the two coun- tries are bitter enemies. The last reported infiltration was in September 2001, when Israeli soldiers found a bag of weapons and explosives on the Israeli side of the border. The infiltrator in that incident apparently escaped back into Syria. the NORTHWESTERN Differen ice ORIENTAL MEDICINE, and MASSAGE THERAPY II OO E y \ SO i G ass! 1 1 1 A 1 Ior jobless benefits extended WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush signed hastily passed legisla- tion yesterday extending unemploy- ment benefits for 2.5 million victims of a weak economy, the first accom- plishment of a new, Republican-con- trolled Congress. Democrats in both the House and Senate complained that the measure fell short of what was needed, but Bush said its enactment "should bring some comfort to those of our fellow citizens who need extra help during the time in which they try to find a job." The measure extends a federal pro- gram that provides 13 weeks of bene- fits for the unemployed who have exhausted their 26 weeks of state aid. The federal program lapsed on Dec. 28, but the Labor Department said the flow of benefits would continue unin- terrupted if legislation were signed nto law by tomorrow. Officials said an estimated 750,000 people are immediately affected, plus an additional 1.6 million who are expected to become eligible before the extension expires on June 1. The president placed his signature on the $7.2 billion bill a few hours after it cleared the House on a vote of 416-4. The Senate passed the measure Tuesday on a voice vote. The lopsided votes masked a politi- cally charged debate in which Republi- cans claimed credit for helping the jobless as their first order of business in the new Congress, and Democrats accused the GOP majority of acting grudgingly. "It is important to note that the first piece of important legislation ... helps American families by extending unem- ployment insurance," said House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). Democrats failed in an attempt to win approval for a more generous bill, and said they were underwhelmed by the GOP-crafted measure. "Not just 13 weeks, we need 26 weeks at least," said Democratic Rep. David Scott, a first-term Georgian who was sworn into Congress on Tuesday. Apart from the unemployment measure, the House unanimously approved legislation .during the day granting a 3.1 percent pay raise to federal judges, the same boost that other government employees received on Jan. 1. GOP leaders also were working for passage of legislation to keep the fed- eral government in operation through Jan. 31. Current spending authority for many departments and agencies expires on Saturday. Bush signed the unemployment bill at a meeting with top Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate, his first since the new Con- gress convened. The unemployment issue was a blend of old and new business for lawmakers. Congress adjourned late last year without passing an extension of the federal program, triggering angry protests from Democrats at the time. At the same time, Rep. Bill Thomas, the California Republican who chairs the House Ways and Means Commit- tao nn; A -Ankftt - :rn - "r -.n - t WASHINGTON White House open to talks with N. Korea The Bush administration is looking past a bristling statement by North Korea for a response to its offer of direct talks. Only U.S. incentives for the North to stop its nuclear weapons program are being ruled out, the White House says. "The ball is in their court," presiden- tial spokesman Ari Fleischer said yes- terday. "They are the ones that created this situation by reneging on agree- ments that they made." But Fleischer also emphasized that Washington's offer to hold talks was unconditional and that the United States was "not ruling anything else out" apart from inducements to get the North to again freeze its nuclear weapons programs. The administration was stepping up its consultations with Asian allies and China. President Bush's national securi- ty adviser, Condoleezza Rice, set up a meeting yesterday with her South Kore- an counterpart, Yim Sung-joon. BAGHDAD, Iraq Iraqi officials protest U.S., British actions Coalition warplanes struck air defense targets in southern Iraq yesterday for the second time this week, and a key Iraqi official said the United States and Britain were bent on war with Baghdad to subju- gate the Middle East. In Moscow, meanwhile, Iraq's ambas- sador to Russia dismissed rumors Sad- dam Hussein might go into exile to avoid war and said the Iraqi leader would "fight to the last drop of blood" to defend his country. Concerns war is imminent have mounted, with the United States and Britain announcing the dispatch of thousands more troops and weapons to the Persian Gulf region because of mis- givings about Iraq's commitment to abandon weapons of mass destruction. Iraq insists it has no such weapons and maintains that claims to the contrary are simply a pretext for wa.- CARACAS, Venezuela Venezuelan bank workers join strike Venezuela's currency reached a record low against the dollar yester- day after banks said they will close for two days to support a 38-day-old strike seeking President Hugo Chavez's ousting. Demand for dollars soared on specu- lation that Chavez's government, facing a fiscal crisis because of dwindling oil and tax revenues, would devalue the bolivar to balance its budget. Nervous depositors wanted dollars before the banks closed, not knowing what the bolivar would be worth when banks reopen next week. Jose Torres, president of Fetrabanca, the umbrella group for bank workers unions, said banks will shut down today and tomorrow, adding weight to a strike that has dried up oil income in the world's fifth largest oil exporter. - Compiled from Daily wire reports. 9 One of the LARGEST selections of USED BOOKS! 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