Plane takes off without pilot and crashes 90 miles away
     URBANA, Ohio - November 23, 1997 6:59 p.m. EST -- A small air-
 plane took off without its pilot Sunday and flew for almost two hours
 before crashing in a field.
     Paul A. Sirks of Dayton had landed the single-engine plane at
 Urbana's Grimes Field airport because of mechanical problems, said
 police Officer Mike Hughes.
     The plane's engine stalled on a taxiway and Sirks got out to re-
 start it by hand-turning the propeller. Once the engine started, the
 empty plane taxied away without Sirks, nearly hitting another plane
 and a hangar before becoming airborne.
     The plane circled the area for about five minutes before heading
 northeast, tracked by another private pilot and State Highway Patrol
 aircraft.
     It finally went down about 90 miles away in central Ohio, some
 50 miles northeast of Columbus, said Patrol Lt. John Born. Authori-
 ties said it may have run out of fuel.
     The Federal Aviation Administration, Highway Patrol and Urbana
 police were investigating. No charges had been filed against Sirks.
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              U.S. sailors in Gulf can't relax yet
    ABOARD THE USS GEORGE WASHINGTON November 22, 1997 9:29 p.m. EST
 A steam catapult hurled jet fighters into the night sky Saturday
 less than an hour's flight from Iraq, part of Navy battle prepar-
 ations despite an apparent end to the crisis with Baghdad.
    The USS George Washington arrived in the Persian Gulf before dawn
 Friday as the U.S. military continued its buildup in the region.
 Pilots from the carrier, which brought 50 strike aircraft, quickly
 began practice missions to familiarize themselves with the terrain.
    "It is clear that we want to deal from a position of strength and
 we intend to do that," said Rear Adm. Michael G. Mullen, commander
 of the carrier's battle group, which includes three other ships and
 a submarine in the Gulf.
     The George Washington's sister ship in the gulf, the USS Nimitz,
 is closer to Iraq, although the Navy would not release the exact
 location of either ship.
     Chief Petty Officer Brad Place of Virginia Beach, Va, has one
 worry -- the possibility of missing Christmas with his wife, Tammy,
 and his children Mandy, 6, and Kelsey 3.
     "That's by far the biggest concern," he said.
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         Skydiver caused Dutch Cessna crash -police
     ROTTERDAM, Netherlands - 23 November 1997 19:05 CET, Paris time
 (18:05 GMT) - A light aircraft which crashed near Rotterdam Saturday
 spun out of control after a skydiver it was carrying smashed into
 its tail as he jumped, police said Sunday.
     The pilot of the single-engined Cessna 206 was killed when the
 plane, which had taken off from Rotterdam Airport carrying five rec-
 reational skydivers, came down in a field near the Dutch town of
 Rhoon.
     "One of the parachutists jumped out of the plane and hit the
 tailplane, damaging it," said police spokesman Rob van Rees.
     The pilot, who was not wearing a parachute, died when he tried
 to jump clear of the plane as it hit the ground.
     "The pilot had no chute. He jumped as the plane was coming down.
 I think he thought he could save himself that way," said Van Rees.
     The skydiver who hit the tail was taken to a hospital with his
 injuries. The other four were unhurt.
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       New airport security means dogs, better scanners
     LOS ANGELES -- November 23, 1997 6:57 p.m. EST  -- These days,
 the newly heightened security at Los Angeles International Airport
 means more wagging tails.
     Remo, a bomb-sniffing dog, and four of her compatriots now have
 full-time jobs, working the terminals at LAX every day.
     "We're high visibility. We're out there every day and throughout
 the terminal, driving round, walking around with the dogs," says
 Remo's handler, Officer Dan Cecil of the Los Angeles Police Depart-
 ment. "It puts people -- employees and people who come every day --
 at a greater ease."
     Under a directive issued by a federal commission that reviewed
 airport safety after the crash of TWA Flight 800, the nation's air-
 ports are upgrading their security measures.
     "There is a much greater sense of purpose among the airlines and
 the airports now to improve security," says Cathal Flynn, security
 chief for the Federal Aviation Administration.
     Officials say the heightened security at the nation's airports
 is being implemented for two reasons. First, the threat of terrorism
 is greater. Second, better technology is available.
     "Technology now does a whole lot of things that it didn't do
 before," says LAX official Jack Driscoll.
     Part of that new technology is higher-tech software that allows
 airports and airlines to scan carry-on baggage more thoroughly. The
 scanners can do a specific analysis of items that might be explosives
 and, if they are indeed cause for concern, the items turn red on the
 monitor.
     Still, when it comes to sniffing out suspicious substances, it's
 hard to beat a dog's nose. That's why Remo and the other dogs are
 constantly on the hunt for 10 different types of explosives, helping
 to keep LAX among the safest airports in the world.
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