Plane crash kills 19 in Kabila's Congo
     BUJUMBURA, Burundi (September 13, 1997 2:33 p.m. EDT) - All 19
 people on a light plane died when the aircraft taking them to a
 church convention crashed into a hill in the east of the Democratic
 Republic of the Congo Friday, a U.N. official said Saturday.
     Michael Phelps, head of the U.N. mission in Uvira on the western
 shore of Lake Tanganyika told Reuters by telephone that the dead
 included an American-Israeli.
     At least two of the passengers were women, he said, adding that
 the bodies were burned beyond recognition.
     "Most of the people were from the Uvira area and they were going
 to a Christian convention in Manembwa," he said.
     The main town in the area is Fizi, a partially abandoned center
 south of Uvira. Aid workers say Fizi has seen intermittent clashes
 between the local Babembe people and President Laurent Kabila's
 Rwandan Tutsi allies.
     But it was not known if the crash was linked to fighting.
 Officials at the scene could not immediately say what caused
 the plane to go down and there were no details about the
 aircraft.
     Phelps said the American-Israeli worked for the charity Food
 for the Hungry International.
     An International Committee of the Red Cross team was in the
 area by chance and had witnessed the crash. "Apparently the plane
 burned for hours and the bodies were burned beyond recognition,"
 Phelps told Reuters.
     Sources in Uvira, a port town across Lake Tanganyika from the
 Burundian capital Bujumbura, say the Babembe people resent the
 dominance of Tutsi soldiers active in Congo.
     To further their aims they have enlisted the support of armed
 Hutu rebels from Burundi and soldiers from the former Rwandan and
 Zairian government armies.
 13:51 09-13-97
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                 ecord Airline Profit Projected
     Washington, Sept. 12 _ The airline industry seems headed for a
 year of record profits.
     "I am expecting net profits in 1997 of about $4 billion," David
 Swierenga, chief economist for the Air Transport Association, said
 Friday.
     Falling fuel prices and the lack of a federal airline ticket tax
 in the first two months of the year are major factors in the healthy
 bottom line, according to Swierenga, whose group represents the
 nation's major carriers.
     In addition, he said, "cargo is an exceptionally bright spot"
 with shipments up 10.9 percent throughout the industry.
     "Things are looking up for the industry, and we expect that to
 continue through '98," he said.
                      Interest Rate Hike Feared
     But, he cautioned: "When we look at 1998 things get a little bit
 more tough." He said that if there are indications of inflation the
 Federal Reserve Board would probably raise interest rates, slowing
 the economy and choking off growth in airline travel.
    Still, Swierenga expects next year to be financially strong, with
 an industrywide profit of $3.3 billion to $3.5 billion.
     The industry showed an overall profit of $800 million in the
 first quarter of 1997, Swierenga said. Airlines rarely make money
 in the winter quarter, when people don't like to fly.  But he said
 they were pushed into the black by the absence of the 10 percent
 ticket tax in January and February. Carriers retained at least part
 of that money, although some prices were lowered.
     The positive news continued into the second quarter, with the
 industry showing $2.2 billion in profits for the first half of the
 year.
     Particularly helpful were falling fuel prices, which dropped
 from about 75 cents a gallon in the winter to around 62 cents now,
 he said. He forecast a decline to 57 cents by the end of 1998.
     Every penny change in fuel prices translates to $170 million a
 year in airline spending.
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