Plane from Los Angeles makes emergency landing in London
     LONDON - November 5, 1997 6:05 p.m. EST - A Virgin Atlantic Air-
 ways jet flying from Los Angeles made an emergency landing at
 Heathrow Airport on Wednesday, slightly injuring some passengers.
     The Airbus 340's left landing gear failed to come down, forcing
 pilot Tim Barnby to land using only the right gear. All 98 passen-
 gers and 16 crew were quickly evacuated down landing slides onto a
 foam-coated runway.
     Airport spokesman Daryl Bartlet said there were no serious in-
 juries. Nine people were taken to a hospital with minor injuries,
 according to a Virgin statement.
     The 39-year-old pilot said he discovered the problem during the
 descent into Heathrow, London's busiest airport.
     "The left main landing gear was not extending properly," Barnby
 said. "I did all I could to force it down but it didn't work. The
 undercarriage was stuck."
     After burning off fuel for 40 minutes, the former military pilot
 and acrobatic champion made the emergency landing.
     "When we landed, we skidded down the runway. But we came to a
 stop and all the passengers were evacuated within one minute,"
 Barnby said.
     The mishap forced one of Heathrow's runways to close, causing
 delays for other airlines.
     British Airways, which operates the most flights at Heathrow,
 had to divert 11 flights to London's Gatwick and Stansted airports,
 or to Birmingham. It also canceled six departures from Heathrow.
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     Man who said Navy shot down TWA Flight 800 admits 'mistake'
     NEW YORK --- November 5, 1997 8:46 p.m. -- A man who used the
 Internet to accuse the Navy of shooting down TWA Flight 800 told
 CNN Wednesday his actions were "reckless and a mistake."
     Ian Goddard said he just wanted "to give the government a black
 eye by any means that looked opportune," according to Cable News
 Network. "TWA 800 was just a vehicle for my larger agenda."
     In March, Goddard released a report on the Internet claiming
 that the government was covering up that a Navy missile brought down
 the plane in July 1996, killing all 230 people on board.
     The report, co-authored by former White House press secretary
 Pierre Salinger and Mike Sommer, contained few documented facts and
 was packed with unattributed quotes, technical jargon and rambling
 speculation.
     Goddard identifies himself as a Libertarian and investigator
 into various purported government plots.
     In a brief message to CNN, Goddard acknowledged that "my effort
 to pin the crash of TWA 800 on the Navy was reckless and a mistake.
 I apologize to all those in the Navy I have wrongfully accused.
     "I also apologize to those who believed in my efforts who are
 now upset with me for my change of mind," Goddard concluded. "We all
 need to put our support behind the families of the victims of
 TWA 800."
     Salinger said Wednesday that Goddard, in a recent conversation,
 had not mentioned his change of heart.
     Salinger, who says he still believes the government was behind
 the disaster, added that he had called New York FBI boss James Kall-
 strom about 10 days ago to say that he was no longer actively
 investigating what brought down the plane.
     "I was attacked so much by the press and by the FBI that I de-
 cided I would not speak about TWA 800 right now," Salinger said
 Wednesday. "I told (Kallstrom) I was pulling away from talking about
 it, but not my views on it."
     FBI spokesman Joe Valiquette confirmed that Salinger called
 Kallstrom last week in a "brief and cordial" conversation. He re-
 fused to provide any details.
     Searches of the Internet for Goddard's work showed an index of
 pages referring to Flight 800 and its cause. But the actual pages
 were taken off the Internet and unavailable Wednesday.
     The military has steadfastly denied any involvement in the ex-
 plosion that brought down the Boeing 747 off the coast of New York's
 Long Island shortly after it took from Kennedy International Airport
 en route to Paris.
     Investigators say the blast was caused by an explosion in the
 plane's center fuel tank, but the trigger for that explosion remains
 undetermined.
    Mechanical problems, a bomb and even the possibility of a missile
 have been studied, but no hard evidence has been produced to rule
 out any of the three.
 ------------------------------------------------------------------
     United Airlines to test one-bag limit for bargain flyers
     DES MOINES, Iowa -- November 5, 1997 12:05 p.m. EST (1705 GMT)
 Bargain hunters can still fly the friendly skies, they just can't
 carry more than one bag.
     In a test that United Airlines hopes to take systemwide, pass-
 engers who pay the lowest fares out of Des Moines will be restricted
 to only one carry-on bag starting December 1.
     The airline says Des Moines passengers will still be able to
 check extra luggage.
     The move is designed to help higher-fare business travelers who
 often grumble they can't find room for their carry-on bags when
 flights are full, United spokesman Tony Molinaro said.
     Des Moines was chosen because it is a medium-size market with a
 substantial number of business travelers, he said.
     The airline has added other restrictions on its lowest fares:
 Travelers must use paperless electronic ticketing and they must buy
 their tickets immediately when they make their reservations.
--- DB 1.39/004487
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