Kenyan plane crash kills 9
     NAIROBI, Kenya -- (February 13, 1998 3:01 p.m. EST) -- A small
 plane crashed into the cloud-covered Ngong Hills west of Nairobi on
 Friday, killing all nine people on board, including journalists
 reporting on flying in Africa.
     "All nine were South Africans, and there were no survivors,"
 said Sarel Kruger, deputy head of mission at the South African
 Embassy.
     The Swiss-made Pilatus PC-12 crashed into a hill about 10 miles
 west of its destination, Nairobi's Wilson Airport, said Maina Kamau,
 air traffic controller duty officer.
     The flight was returning from the Maasai Mara game park.
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                  New Dept. of Transportation rule
 Feds require more complete passenger manifest for international
 flights
     WASHINGTON -- Feb 13, 1998 4:22 p.m. EDT -- The U.S. Department
 of Transportation issued final rules requiring airlines to collect
 the full name of each U.S. citizen on international flights so loved
 ones could be quickly notified in case of a crash.
     The passenger manifest rules were just one of a flurry of air
 travel announcements made on the first anniversary of the White
 House aviation safety commission's final report.
     Beginning October 1, U.S. and international airlines will be
 required to ask those passengers to offer a contact name and tele-
 phone number. In the event of an accident the list would be given
 to the U.S. State Department.
     The DOT said the action follows recommendations last year by
 both the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security and
 the Task Force on Assistance to Families of Aviation Disasters.
     Joe Lychner, a member of the task force who lost his wife and
 two daughters on TWA Flight 800 in 1996, urged travelers to provide
 a contact number.
     "In the case of TWA Flight 800, this rule would have dramatical-
 ly reduced the time it took to notify the victims' family members
 and subsequently saved hours and sometimes days of pain ..." Lychner
 said in a statement.
     The DOT is also seeking public comment on whether the rules
 should be extended to domestic flights.
     The Transportation Department announced other final rules on fire
 detection and suppression systems in aircraft cargo compartments.
     To advance action on another commission recommendation, the
 Federal Aviation Administration asked for public comment on the use
 of child seats in aircraft for children under 40 pounds.
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            Dangerous O'Hare landing leads to new rules
     CHICAGO -- Feb 13, 1998 1:50 p.m. EST  -- Moments after an Amer-
 ican Airlines jet missed the runway and skidded to a stop in a muddy
 field at O'Hare International Airport, air traffic controllers
 cleared two more planes to land on the same runway.
     One landed safely, but the pilot of the other aborted after
 seeing the damaged plane still stuck at the runway's side.
     Although no one was hurt, the dangerous situation at O'Hare
 International Airport on Monday prompted criticism, an investigation
 by the NTSB, and a new landing policy, announced Thursday by American
 Airlines.
     The new policy affects older 727s with less sophisticated navi-
 gational equipment, and sets new guidelines deigned to give pilots
 more time to decide whether to abort a landing. It will be in effect
 for the duration of the NTSB's investigation.
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         FAA orders new fire-safety gear for cargo on planes
     WASHINGTON -- Feb 13, 1998 1:50 p.m. EST -- Over the next three
 years, airlines must outfit their cargo holds with systems to detect
 and fight fires, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered.
     The FAA order, issued Thursday, covers 3,700 aircraft and all
 newly manufactured planes. Previously some holds were not required
 to have smoke or fire detectors on the theory that because they were
 sealed, the lack of oxygen would snuff any fire.
     The rule-making is the last formal step in a process started
 with the May 11, 1996, ValuJet crash in the Florida Everglades that
 killed 110 people, a crash blamed on a fire in the cargo hold. In
 the ValuJet case, an illegally loaded cargo of oxygen canisters fed
 the flames.
     The investigation led to demands for detectors and fire suppres-
 sion systems in all cargo holds.
     Some airlines already have begun to retrofit their planes, the
 FAA said. Airlines are expected to complete the process within
 three years and are to make quarterly progress reports to the FAA.
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