B-1 bomber crashes in Montana on training mission
     ALZADA, Mont. (September 19, 1997 8:04 p.m. EDT) - An Air Force
 B-1 bomber crashed in southeastern Montana Friday while flying on a
 training mission, a spokesman at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South
 Dakota confirmed.
     The spokesman, Senior Airman Allen Marshall, said the fate of
 the four crewmen aboard the bomber was unknown.
     The crash happened about midafternoon in the corner of southeast
 Montana, near the state line with Wyoming.  Local authorities said
 they received reports of an explosion, but could not confirm details.
     It was the sixth U.S. military crash since last Saturday. Defense
 Secretary William Cohen earlier this week ordered a halt to all
 military training flights for one day over the coming week,
 beginning Friday.
     Before Friday's crash, the U.S. military actually had lost fewer
 aircraft in accidents this year -- 54, with less than two weeks re-
 maining in the government's fiscal year -- than in any recent year.
 It lost 67 last year, 69 in 1995 and 86 in 1994, according to
 Pentagon statistics.
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      "All four crew members were killed in the crash," said Capt.
 Gary Carruthers, a spokesman for the Air Force's Air Combat Command
 at Langely Air Force Base in Hampton, Va.
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 Fate of B-2s in Clinton's hands
     WASHINGTON (September 19, 1997 7:09 p.m. EDT) - A House-Senate
 conference committee Friday worked out differences on their respec-
 tive 1998 defense spending bills, compromising on such matters as
 the B-2 bomber and Bosnia to limit conflict with the White House,
 Congressional sources said.
     The conference committee, which will release details next
 Tuesday, kept a $331 million down payment for the B-2 "Stealth"
 bombers in the budget and left it to President Clinton to decide
 whether to procure more of the planes.
     The House wanted up to nine more bombers but the Pentagon, the
 White House, and the Senate did not. The final bill calls for a
 blue ribbon commission to study the need for more of the radar-
 evading bombers, the sources said.
     The panel also set a June 30, 1998, deadline for getting U.S.
 peacekeeping troops out of Bosnia but kept the door open for Clinton
 to waive that by certifying that maintaining a presence there was in
 the U.S. national interest.
     A provision allows Clinton to request additional funds for the
 Bosnian mission if he uses the waiver.
     The administration has set June 30 as its own target date for
 withdrawal but wants flexibility if needed.  Defense Secretary
 William Cohen has warned Congress that a firm cutoff date could
 undermine the mission and endanger U.S. troops.
     "Such a provision would result in a serious loss of U.S. cred-
 ibility and flexibility and could jeopardize the safety of our
 troops on the ground," Cohen wrote Congress last week.
     Overall the bill includes $247.7 billion in discretionary
 defense spending.
     The defense spending bill fulfill's the president's $2.2 billion
 budget request for the new Air Force F-22 Stealth fighter aircraft,
 which is being built by Lockheed Martin Corp. and is to replace the
 F-117.
     It also grants the budget request to fund 20 more F-18 planes
 and gives $720 million for a fourth destroyer. Three were requested
 in the budget.
     The bill funds seven Ospreys, two more than requested in the
 budget for the Marines and special forces. Those V-22 tilt-rotor
 helicopter are capable of flying vertically, like a helicopter, but
 can also fly more like a plane.
     On the national missile defense system, it added $474 million
 above Clinton's request.
     The conference report calls for $135 million in breast cancer
 research and $45 million for prostate cancer research by the
 military.
 19:02 09-19-9
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                 British Airways -- European Union
     BRUSSELS (Reuter) - The European Commission said Friday that
 British Airways' sales practices could amount to an abuse of domi-
 nant position, an assessment that could trigger hefty fines if
 confirmed.
     A Commission spokesman said BA received a statement of object-
 ions in January outlining the Commission's concerns about discounts
 to corporate customers and travel agents' commissions, but a final
 decision isn't expected before the end of the year.
     The Commission's investigation followed a complaint in 1993 by
 BA's British arch rival Virgin Airlines, owned by millionaire
 businessman Richard Branson.
     If the EU concludes BA abused its dominant position, the airline
 could face fines of up to 10 percent of its revenue, depending on
 how significant the offenses were and for how long they occurred.
     BA denied its conduct is unfair, saying it is common practice in
 the airline industry.
     "We do not believe there is anything wrong with our policy on
 travel agents' commissions or discounts to corporate customers," a
 spokesman for the carrier said late Thursday.
    The Commission will hear both companies at a closed-door hearing,
 probably at the end of October, the spokesman told Reuters.
     BA's problems with the Commission over its sales practices add
 to its difficulties getting EU approval for its planned alliance
 with AMR's American Airlines.
     Virgin also is fighting BA's practices in the United States as
 part of a long battle between the two competitors over allegations
 of dirty tricks.
     BA already has replied to the Commission's competition concerns
 and Virgin also filed its comments this week.
     The complaint is being probed mainly under article 86 of the
 treaty of Rome, the EU's founding text, which deals with abuse of
 dominant positions.
     Article 86 investigations usually take several years.
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