t least 236 feared dead in Indonesian plane crash
     JAKARTA, Indonesia -- September 26, 1997 - 8:48 a.m. EDT --
 Rescue crews combed a mountainside Friday in northern Sumatra as
 they searched for survivors of a plane crash that occurred as the
 aircraft was preparing to land in thick haze from hundreds of
 forest fires across Indonesia.
     At least 236 people aboard the Indonesian Garuda Airlines A-300
 Airbus were feared dead. The plane that was flying from Jakarta went
 down early Friday afternoon about 15 minutes before it was due to
 land at Medan, a major commodities and trading center.  The plane
 crashed about 20 (32 km) miles from the airport.
     "We are afraid there are no survivors," one official said.
     There was no immediate word on the cause of the crash, and
 authorities were not sure what role, if any, the smog may have had.
 An airport official in Medan said a thick haze had covered the air-
 port for the last two days.
     One official said, "It's probably the haze, but we're not
 sure."
     Some of the worst fires in Indonesia have been smoldering across
 Sumatra for months, and several airports in other cities on the
 island, and elsewhere in the country, were closed Friday because
 of poor visibility.
     In parts of Sumatra Thursday, visibility was down to less than
 100 yards (meters).
     Airport sources said Flight GA-152 lost contact with the Medan
 control tower at about 1:30 p.m. (0530 GMT/ 1:30 a.m. EDT). Rescue
 officials said the plane went down near the village of Buah Nabar
 in the Sibolangit district south of Medan.
     Officials said there were 222 passengers, including one child,
 and between 14 and 16 crew members on the flight. Most of those on
 board were believed to be Indonesians, but the plane was also
 carrying American, Dutch and Japanese passengers.
     Sumatra is an Indonesian island divided into two almost equal
 parts by the equator. The southeastern Asian country of Indonesia
 is an archipelago of about 17,500 islands.
     Bush fires across Sumatra island and Kalimantan have sent a
 choking, health-threatening haze across neighboring Singapore,
 Malaysia and Brunei. The smoke has also drifted as far as the
 southern Philippines and parts of Thailand, including the resort
 area of Phuket.
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      The plane, a government-run Garuda Airlines Airbus A-300 jet
 airplane, had taken off from the capital, Jakarta, about 870 miles
 southeast, and crashed about 30 minutes before its scheduled 1:55
 p.m. landing.
                             Other Crashes
     Today's accident was the third major airline crash in Indonesia
 this year.
      On July 17 a Dutch-built Sempati Air commuter plane crashed
 near a housing complex on the island of Java, killing 27 people.
      Fifteen people were killed when a British-made ATP turboprop
 plane flown by the state-run Merpati Nusantara airline crashed off
 the island of Sumatra on April 19.
     In June 1996, a Garuda Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-10 caught
 fire after an aborted take-off at Japan's Fukuoka airport in June
 1996, killing at least three people and injuring 99.
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 irgin chief accuses British Airways of 'blackmailing' European Union
     LONDON  - Virgin Atlantic Airways boss Richard Branson clashed
 swords with British Airways Plc again Thursday, accusing the rival
 airline of "blackmailing" the European Commission to clear its
 alliance with American Airlines .
     The Virgin Group chairman said BA's threat to suspend some
 regional flights to the United States unless its transatlantic
 alliance is cleared soon amounted to tactical warfare in the battle
 to win EU approval.
     "BA's attempt to blackmail the competition authorities by threat-
 ening to abandon regional routes to the U.S. should be seen for what
 it is. It shows BA in its true colors," Branson said.
     Virgin Atlantic pledged to step into the breach and take over
 any slots to the United States if BA decides to cut its domestic
 regional services.
     BA was unavailable for an immediate reaction. On Wednesday, it
 said flights to the United States from Glasgow, Manchester and
 Birmingham airports in Britain were all under threat due to the
 delay in getting the alliance approved by competition authorities.
     The BA/American alliance was announced last June but regulators
 have not yet approved it.
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