U.S. to put consumer group 'Truth in Airfares' proposal up for debate
 September 12, 1997 - 2:52 p.m. EDT
     WASHINGTON - A consumer group's proposal that airlines disclose
 the most recently available, lowest fare for a journey will be
 published for comment shortly, a Department of Transportation (DOT)
 official said Thursday.
     Consumers Union has asked the department to establish a "Truth
 in Airfares" regulation because it says the lack of up-to-date
 information on low fares and average fares is a barrier to effective
 comparison shopping.
     The group has also said consumers cannot rely on travel agents
 to solve the problem, as tests by public interest groups had shown
 a huge variation when agents were asked for the lowest fare on a
 particular route.
     An invitation for comment is to be published in the Federal
 Register next week.
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              Turkish helicopter crashes, nine dead
     ANKARA (September 14, 1997 09:33 a.m. EDT) - A Turkish military
 helicopter crashed in the eastern province of Van, killing at least
 nine soldiers, Anatolian news agency said Sunday.
     It said the U.S.-made Sikorsky helicopter crashed into the
 garden of a house at around one p.m. (1000 GMT).
     The agency quoted witnesses as saying the helicopter may have
 hit electricity lines and crashed in the town of Gevas. Fire figh-
 ters pulled charred bodies from the wreckage, it said.
     Turkey has a heavy military presence in the area to combat
 Kurdish guerrillas fighting for self rule since 1984. More than
 26,000 people have died in the conflict.
     Kurdistan Workers Party rebels shot down two helicopters in
 Turkish anti-guerrilla raids into northern Iraq in May and June,
 killing 13 military personnel.
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    24 presumed lost in German army plane crash off African coast
     BONN (September 14, 1997 11:09 a.m. EDT) - All 24 aboard a Ger-
 man military plane are believed to have been killed in a crash dur-
 ing a flight to South Africa, German Defense Minister Volker Ruehe
 said Sunday.
     Ruehe told a news conference it was thought likely the aircraft
 had crashed in the sea some 1,500 km (950 miles) west of Angola. He
 said radio contact with the aircraft was lost shortly after 1400
 GMT on Saturday.
     "We can only assume that the plane has crashed and that all 24
 passengers on board are dead," he said.
     On board were 12 marines, 10 crew members and the wives of two
 crew members, the ministry said. It said this was the correct pas-
 senger count and not the figure of 26 given earlier by a ministry
 spokesman.
     The marines had been invited to Cape Town for a regatta cele-
 brating the 75th anniversary of the South African Navy.
     Ruehe told journalists that no distress signals had been re-
 ceived from the plane and that no emergency landings in the region
 had been reported.
     "We believe the accident occurred very swiftly..... There is
 still uncertainty as to where the aircraft actually crashed," he
 said.
     The aircraft was identified as a Soviet-made Tupolev TU-154.
 Tupolevs have been part of the German military fleet since German
 unification in 1990. They were used by the army of the former com-
 munist East Germany.
     The defense ministry said an inspection had been carried out
 on the plane one month earlier. The aircrew was described as very
 experienced.
     Ruehe said a German Airbus with a search team on board was due
 to fly out to the region later on Sunday evening and would head
 either for Cape Town or Pretoria depending on any new information
 received during the journey.
     A second German airforce aircraft was due to follow the route
 of the crashed plane to South Africa from Dakar in Senegal via
 Windhoek in Namibia in search of clues.
     A South African rescue unit said earlier it was involved in the
 search for a German army passenger plane that disappeared while en
 route to Windhoek in Namibia from North Africa.
     The French defense ministry in Paris said it was also helping
 in the search. France still has a significant military presence in
 the region.
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       Burmese dissidents claim Rangoon shot down helicopter
     CHIANG MAI, Thailand (September 14, 1997 00:45 a.m. EDT) --- A
 Thai helicopter which went missing on the Burmese border was shot
 down by Rangoon's gunners after it strayed over the frontier, a
 Burmese dissident group said Sunday.
     Bangkok's military and foreign ministry strongly denied the
 claim, but expressed fears that the loss of the helicopter in bad
 weather over the remote border zone could harm relations between
 Thailand and neighbouring Burma.
     The Karen National Union (KNU), which represents the ethinic
 Karen Burmese staunchly opposed to Rangoon's military junta, said
 one of two Thai choppers was shot down by heavy machine gun fire
 after it flew over Burmese territory.
 . . . .
      The helicopter was on a routine surveillance flight of refugee
 camps and forest in the border region to the west of this northern
 Thai town, military officials have said.
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