Navy helicopter may have clipped power lines before fatal crash
     JOHNSONDALE, Calif. - Feb 19, 1998 1:06 p.m. EST - A Navy heli-
 copter that crashed in a central California forest while on a
 search-and-rescue mission, killing four people, may have gone down
 after hitting power lines, investigators said Thursday.
     Rescue workers returned to the steep, rocky Kern River Canyon
 Thursday to search for a fifth person who was missing and believed
 to be on board the Huey.
     The helicopter from the China Lake Naval Weapons Center burst
 into flames Wednesday afternoon near the Kern River in the Sequoia
 National Forest.
     An unidentified witness said in a 911 emergency call that the
 helicopter hit a power line, then crashed into the side of the
 canyon. Power went out to a nearby hamlet about 11:40 a.m., shortly
 before the crash was reported.
     "Usually, when you hit a wire, you wipe out," Kern County Fire
 Capt. Pat Schreffler said. "Helicopters are a more fragile aircraft
 than people realize."
     Due to the steepness of the canyon walls at the crash site and
 the turbulence of the rain-swollen river, rescue workers said recov-
 ering the bodies would be tricky work. Light snow and overcast skies
 greeted workers who arrived Thursday morning.
     All the victims were Navy personnel from China Lake, about 60
 miles east across the Mojave Desert from the crash site. Their names
 were not released.
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    Plane's new defibrillator saves passenger after heart attack
     DALLAS - Feb 19, 1998 11:01 a.m. EST -- A passenger's life was
 saved by the use of a cardiac electric shock device in what American
 Airlines believed was a first for the use of defibrillators in a
 domestic plane.
     The device was used to restart Robert Giggey's heart after he
 collapsed following a dash to catch his flight Wednesday. The air-
 plane was still at the gate, but officials said that without the
 defibrillator aboard, the 52-year-old man easily could have died.
     "The people on the airplane were able to give him the same
 treatment we would have begun as soon as our ambulance got there,"
 said airport safety director Alvy Dodson.
     The airline said defibrillators have been used 39 times on its
 passengers with chest pains, but mostly for monitoring purposes.
     "This does appear to be the first case that a defibrillator has
 brought somebody back," said Dr. Dave McKenas, American's corporate
 medical director.
     In July, American became the first domestic airline to install
 the devices, which are about the size of a laptop computer. They
 were installed on 242 airplanes that make over-water flights, and
 there are plans to install them on all of the airline's 640 planes
 by November.
     Similar installations have since been announced by Delta Air
 Lines and by United Airlines, which is being sued by the widow of
 a passenger who died of a heart attack. The devices are not required
 by the Federal Aviation Administration.
     International carriers Qantas and Virgin Atlantic have carried
 defibrillators for years.
     Flight attendants and off-duty paramedic Don Grohman were cred-
 ited with saving Giggey.  The Raleigh, N.C., businessman was in
 serious but stable condition Wednesday night, said his wife, Carmen.
     "For a few minutes, I was a widow. I think if we'd been any-
 where else, I'd still be a widow," she said. "They acted so quickly,
 it was just amazing."
 --------------------------------------------------------------------
 UPDATE
             Five dead in California helicopter crash
     CHINA LAKE, Calif. - Feb 19, 1998 9:18 p.m. EST - Investigators
 sifting through the wreckage of a U.S. Navy helicopter that crashed
 in the Sequoia National Forest recovered another body Thursday,
 bringing the death toll in the accident to five.
     A spokesman at the China Lake Naval Weapons Center, where the
 UH-1N helicopter had been based, confirmed that a fifth body was
 found at the crash scene Thursday afternoon.
     The helicopter was on a routine search and rescue training
 mission Wednesday when it crashed in a rugged canyon near the
 Kern River, about 150 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
     The weapons center spokesman said he could not immediately
 confirm reports that the crash occurred after the helicopter clipped
 a power line.
     Names of the victims have not been released pending formal
 identification and notification of families.
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