Nepal prime minister escapes injury in plane drama
     KATHMANDU - March 3, 1998 10:01 a.m. EST - Nepalese Prime Mini-
 ster Surya Bahadur Thapa, his development minister and 48 other
 passengers had a narrow escape Tuesday when their plane was forced
 to land at Kathmandu Airport, official sources said.
     The Avro aircraft of the private NECON Airlines was unable to
 land as scheduled at Biratnagar airport, some 181 miles southeast
 of Kathmandu, after the front landing gear became stuck.
     "As the Biratnagar airport was not equipped with proper emer-
 gency landing facilities I decided to divert the aircraft to Kath-
 mandu for an emergency landing," chief pilot Dadiram Niraula told
 AFP.
     "As per standard procedure to be taken during such situations,
 the Kathmandu airport's 3,000-foot runway was covered in foam and
 the aircraft made a forced landing," he said, adding the cockpit
 was badly damaged.
     "When we announced the nose wheel snag on the aircraft and our
 decision to divert the aircraft back to Kathmandu, Prime Minister
 Thapa looked calm and composed," he added.
     A source at Kathmandu airport said Thapa and his cabinet col-
 league, Local Development Minister Gajendra Narayan Singh, looked
 cheerful when they got off the plane although they were perspiring
 heavily.
     The prime minister's public functions have been cancelled until
 further notice because of the incident, an official source said.
     A NECON spokesman said all the other passengers, including five
 Japanese and an unspecified number of Europeans, escaped unharmed.
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               Wreckage of small plane found in Idaho
     BOISE, Idaho - March 3, 1998 2:30 p.m. EST -- A small plane
 crashed during a sightseeing flight, killing two adults and four
 children.
     The wreckage was spotted Tuesday and searchers who flew over
 site by helicopter reported there were no survivors, National Guard
 Lt. Col. Jim Ball said.
     Ground crews had not yet reached the wreckage in a rugged,
 remote area, he said.
     The Cessna 303 disappeared Monday afternoon after leaving Boise
 Airport on a sightseeing flight.
     There was no immediate indication what caused the crash, in a
 high desert area about 60 miles northwest of Boise. Weather at the
 time of the crash was good, with scattered clouds.
     "We have an eyewitness who saw a plane go down in that area,"
 said Jeff Stratten, spokesman for the Idaho Division of Aeronautics.
 "The witness saw the plane go straight down in a spiral."
     Ball identified the adults on the plane as Jeffrey Johnson and
 William Zenahlik, both chief warrant officers and Apache helicopter
 pilots with the Idaho National Guard.
     The identities of the children with them had not been confirmed.
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            Unmanned U.S. spy plane takes to the skies
     SAN DIEGO -- March 3, 1998 2:41 p.m. EST --  Although the Air
 Force could conceivably use its newest spy plane to look for speed-
 ers on the highways, it has more ambitious plans for the sophisti-
 cated Global Hawk.
     Flying at 65,000 feet, the Global Hawk "can read license
 plates," says Claude Hesham, vice president of Teledyne Ryan
 Aeronautical, which helped design the plane.
     Created in conjunction with the U.S. military, the Global Hawk
 is the first high-altitude, long-endurance, unmanned aerial recon-
 naissance system. In layman's terms, it's a spy plane that flies on
 its own.
     The Global Hawk can fly for 40 hours at a time with the help of
 two computers preprogrammed for navigation.
     Hashem said a 56-minute test flight over Edwards Air Force Base
 last weekend marked a tremendous accomplishment for Teledyne Ryan
 and a breakthrough for the military: the United States now has capa-
 bility to send planes into hostile areas without risking anyone's
 life.
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