Air Force calls off search for bombs in Colorado
     DENVER (September 16, 1997 7:57 p.m. EDT) - After 10 weeks of
 sifting through tons of wreckage, the Air Force Tuesday ended its
 search for four bombs on board a warplane that mysteriously crashed
 into the Rocky Mountains in April, officials said.
     "I can assure you that we conducted this search to the best of
 our ability. We wanted to find bombs," Brig Gen. Don Streater, who
 led the Air Force's recovery operation, told reporters.
     The A-10 warplane flown by Capt. Craig Button disappeared during
 a routine training mission April 2 when it veered off course after
 takeoff from Davis-Monthan Air Force base in Arizona.
     After an extensive search remnants of the plane were found on
 Gold Dust Peak near Vail, Colorado.
     Although 70 percent of the aircraft's munitions and nearly nine
 tons of the 13-ton aircraft were recovered, the four 500-pound bombs
 on board the plane have not been found.  The Air Force will review
 eyewitness reports and other evidence along the plane's path to
 locate the bombs.
 17:03 09-16-97
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  Search crews find some wreckage of U.S. plane at Africa crash site
     WINDHOEK, Namibia (September 16, 1997 12:21 p.m. EDT) -- Search
 crews Tuesday found debris from a U.S. cargo plane in the same area
 where they retrieved wreckage from a German aircraft, confirming
 the two military transports crashed off the coast of Namibia.
    The two planes, carrying a total of 33 people, vanished Saturday
 while traveling in opposite directions: the German Tupolev 154 was
 headed from Germany to South Africa; the American C-141 Starlifter
 was flying from Namibia to Ascension Island.
    "The possibility of saving survivors is getting slimmer," Lt.
 Col. Eddie Brown of South Africa, which oversees rescue and search
 efforts in the area, said Tuesday.
    "The water in Benguela current is extremely cold, and I believe
 there are also sharks in the area," he said.
     Only one body -- that of an unidentified German woman -- has
 been found. The U.S. plane carried nine servicemen.
     German Defense Minister Volker Ruehe said the body would be
 brought ashore for identification. German air force doctors will
 help with the identification, he said.
     Twelve German, U.S. and South African planes continued searching
 in the fog Tuesday. The debris was spreading out and moving north-
 ward because of a slight current.
     More planes are expected to arrive in Namibia Tuesday to help
 search the area, just over 100 miles west of Cape Fria.
     Faint distress signals were detected Sunday and early Monday,
 but nothing has been heard since.
     Debris found Monday, including airplane seats and a few papers,
 came from the German plane. The wreckage found Tuesday was from the
 American plane.
     "This indicates that both aircraft went down together," German
 Ministry spokesman Navy Capt. Hans-Joachim Liedtke said.
     The disappearance of the two planes was not reported to rescue
 officials until almost 24 hours later. German, U.S. and South
 African officials were trying to determine the cause of the delay.
     Namibian officials said the probable collision site was off
 their radar and they didn't know the German plane was coming because
 they had not received a flight plan. Air corridors often are shared,
 although planes traveling in opposite directions are supposed to fly
 at different altitudes.
     American officials said they could not say why it took so long
 to initiate a search or what steps were taken when the U.S. plane
 did not arrive at Ascension Island as scheduled.
     "I cannot reconstruct that for you. We simply do not have that
 information.  I'm not sure what the time line would be, but they
 would obviously inform people in the United States," said U.S. Army
 Col. Michael Mensch.
     "No departure signal, no flight plan.  That's why we were not
 aware that the airplane was coming," said Jochen Sell, Namibia's
 chief air traffic officer.
     The water where debris has been found is too deep -- some 3,000
 feet -- for normal diving operations and special equipment is being
 sought to aid in the search. Brown said he also hopes to bring in a
 ship with special scanning equipment.
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