FBI probes suspected tampering with commuter airliner
     CHICAGO -- December 1, 1997 4:35 p.m. EST -- A commuter airline
 tightened security Monday after wires connected to a plane's backup
 braking system were found severed.
     FBI agents and investigators from the Federal Aviation Adminis-
 tration were trying to determine if the five wires on the 64-passen-
 ger plane had been deliberately cut, said FBI spokesman Bob Long.
     Over the weekend, an FAA official who spoke on condition of
 anonymity told The Associated Press that the wires were not frayed
 and that it appeared wire cutters had been used.
     The severed wires were discovered Saturday during normal main-
 tenance on the British Aerospace ATP twin-engine turboprop flown by
 Chicago-based United Feeder Service. The plane had arrived at O'Hare
 Airport the day before from South Bend, Ind.
     No one would speculate on when the damage occurred. Airline of-
 ficials said the plane had arrived without incident and sat on the
 ground about seven hours before the problem was discovered.
     Airline spokesman Bill Mishk said the company had told its em-
 ployees to be vigilant and enforce security measures strictly. He
 said it also was reviewing security procedures to determine if any
 changes were necessary.
     He said the company knew of no labor problems that might have
 prompted vandalism.
    Mishk said that because a backup system was involved, the severed
 wires alone would not have prevented the plane from operating
 normally.
 -------------------------------------------------------------------
     WASHINGTON -- The military's aviation accident rate has remained
 unchanged for the third year in a row despite a rash of accidents
 this fall that prompted a 24-hour suspension in training flights for
 a safety review, the Pentagon said Monday.
     For fiscal years 1995 through 1997, the number of major aviation
 accidents held steady at 1.5 per 100,000 flying hours, the Pentagon
 said in a statement. Fiscal 1997 ended Sept. 30.
     As a comparison, in 1985 the rate of major accidents was 2.5 per
 100,000 hours. The rate then dropped to 1.9 in 1988, rose slightly
 over the next several years, and then dropped to 1.5 in 1995.
    The military considers a major accident to be one in which a life
 has been lost or $1 million of damage has been done to an aircraft.
     "The Department of Defense has just completed one of its safest
 flying years on record, despite a cluster of unrelated accidents
 during the final weeks of the fiscal year," the statement said.
     The statement said there were 68 major accidents in fiscal 1997,
 the lowest number since the department began keeping records in 1958.
 The number of such accidents was 71 in 1996, the statement said.
     Aviation fatalities also declined from 116 to 76, the second-
 lowest figure ever. In 1994, the Pentagon recorded the lowest
 number, 68.
     The statement also said the number of aircraft destroyed during
 the past year -- from all causes, either on the ground or in flight
 -- dropped to an all-time low of 54, down from 66 the previous year.
     In September, Defense Secretary William Cohen ordered all bran-
 ches of the military to conduct a 24-hour safety "stand-down," in
 which all training flights were halted while pilots and crews re-
 viewed safety procedures.
     That unprecedented step was taken amid a series of crashes that
 began Sept. 13 when an Air Force C-141 transport plane crashed off
 the coast of Africa after apparently colliding with another
 aircraft.
     The next day, an F-117A stealth fighter broke up during an air
 show in Maryland. The pilot ejected safely, but the spectacular
 event was caught by several home videos and replayed on national
 television many times over.
     Shortly thereafter, a Navy F-A-18 Hornet went down in Oman and
 its pilot was killed.
     On Sept. 15, a Marine Corps F-A-18 crashed off North Carolina
 during routine training. Both the pilot and weapons officer were
 killed.
     A day later, two F-16s from the New Jersey Air National Guard
 collided off the New Jersey coast. One landed safely, while the
 other jet crashed. Two crew members were injured.
     On Sept. 19, an Air Force B-1B bomber from Ellsworth Air Force
 Base, S.D., crashed in Montana, killing all four crew members.
     The Pentagon said the breakdown of major accident rates for the
 services in fiscal 1997 was: Air Force, 1.4 per 100,000 hours; Army,
 1.3; Navy/Marine Corps, 1.9.
 -----------------------------
--- DB 1.39/004487
---------------