Four killed in Germany when parachutist lands on soccer fans
     HALLE, Germany - September 27, 1997 06:33 a.m. EDT - Four people
 died when a sky-diver whose parachute failed to open plummeted onto
 a group of soccer fans outside a stadium, police said Saturday.
     The parachutist, 37, was among those killed when he slammed into
 the crowd of around 80 people outside the stadium in the eastern
 German city of Halle late Friday.
     Two men, aged 18 and 28, were killed instantly.  Another, 21,
 died in hospital later. Six others were injured.
     Many people at the scene were treated for shock after witnessing
 the accident.
     Police have opened an inquiry into why the skydiver did not re-
 sort to his emergency parachute after his main one failed to open.
 He was taking part in a demonstration jump with a group of 10 others
 who landed safely.
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 Reuters
     JAKARTA, Indonesia -- The pilot of a Garuda Indonesia Airbus
 plane that crashed, killing all 234 people on board, reported low
 visibility because of a smoky haze minutes before the aircraft
 came down, the state-owned Antara news agency said.  Indonesia's
 air services have been disrupted by thick smoke from hundreds of
 forest fires in the region.
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     FAA investigates 'operational error' over New York airport
     NEW YORK - September 27, 1997 10:04 a.m. EDT -- Two passenger
 jets nearly hit each other over John F. Kennedy International Air-
 port last week, spurring an investigation by the Federal Aviation
 Administration.
     The Sept. 19 incident involved two Boeing 747 jets as one was
 taking off and the other was either circling the airport or attempt-
 ing to land shortly after 4 p.m., FAA spokeswoman Alison Duquette
 said Friday.
     One jet was about 200 feet above the other and 1.3 miles to one
 side.
     The FAA is investigating an error made by air controllers and
 whether pilots of the Tower Air and British Airways jets did not
 follow the rules, Duquette said.
     It was not known how many passengers were on board the jets or
 whether they were aware of the incident.
     A spokeswoman for British Airways declined comment pending the
 outcome of the investigation. Tower Air referred calls to its corp-
 orate offices, which were closed late Friday.
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