Airline bans Oasis member
     HONG KONG -Cathay Pacific Airways says it has banned Liam
 Gallagher because the Oasis rocker threatened to stab a pilot.
     The airhne received oomplaints last month that members of
 the band and its 30 member entourage behaved badly on a flight
 from Hong Kong to Austrailia during a tour.
     The entourage "caused a lot of nuisances and (Gallagber) has
 made public threats to our crew. Our priority is to proect the
 safety of our passengers and our staff," said airline C.F. Kwan
 on Thursday.
 Knoxville News Sentinel 13 March 1998
 -------------------------------------------------------------------
             Radar glitches threaten traffic at airport
     DALLAS - March 13, 1998 1:01 p.m. EST -- Planes flying in and
 out of Dallas' Love Field sometimes fail to show up on radar, ac-
 cording to worried air traffic officials who want a new radar
 tower at the airport.
     "The problems with the radar have an adverse effect on our abil-
 ity to accomplish our mission," tower manager Jim Owens wrote in a
 Feb. 27 memo obtained by The Dallas Morning News.
     Love had its own radar antenna until the mid-1980s, when new
 models were installed at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and
 Love's antenna was demolished.
     Officials said the radar array provides the best coverage for
 DFW Airport but leaves blind spots in which low-flying aircraft or
 helicopters can disappear from the radar screen, officials said.
     In some instances, Southwest Airlines jets have been forced to
 abort landing attempts when their on-board warning systems spotted a
 helicopter that aircraft controllers did not see, controllers said.
    "We can have a Southwest (Boeing) 737 depart here and see nothing
 on the radar," an unidentified controller told the newspaper.  "We
 know where it is because we can usually look out the window and see
 it, but it's still not a good situation."
     Officials said the best remedy would be a new radar antenna at
 Love Field, which would cost an estimated $11 million.
     Local FAA officials have not gotten a response from the federal
 government on their December request for a new radar tower, said Jim
 Murphy, air traffic division manager for the FAA's Southwest region.
     FAA officials said there have been no close calls, despite the
 problems.
 -------------------------------------------------------------------
     U.S. lets Thailand out of $392 million jet fighter contract
     WASHINGTON - March 13, 1998 1:18 p.m. EST -- As a gesture to an
 old ally facing hard economic times, the Clinton administration has
 agreed to release the Thai government from a contract agreement to
 buy U.S.-made jet fighters it no longer can afford, administration
 officials said Friday.
     President Clinton, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office Fri-
 day morning before beginning talks with Thai Prime Minister Chuan
 Leekpai, said he would make an announcement later.
     Clinton praised the Thai government for handling its economic
 ills, which emerged last year as many major East Asian nations suf-
 fered currency and credit problems.
     "We have obviously been very concerned about the challenges fac-
 ing the Thai economy, but very, very impressed with the leadership
 of this prime minister, his willingness to make difficult decisions
 to bring his country back to full and robust financial health,"
 Clinton said. "We want to do whatever we can to be a good friend."
    U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity said in advance
 of the meeting that the administration would either sell the jets to
 another country or purchase them for U.S. use.
     "We have solved their problem for them," one official said, re-
 ferring to the Thai's desire to cancel the deal.
     Thailand wanted relief from an agreed payment schedule for eight
 F-A-18 fighter jets it ordered from McDonnell Douglas, now part of
 Boeing, for $392 million. It also wanted relief from payments on
 smaller defense contracts.
     During a visit to Bangkok in January, Defense Secretary William
 Cohen discussed the matter at length with top Thai government
 officials, including the prime minister, who also is defense chief.
     Cohen told Chuan at that meeting that Clinton was eager to find
 ways to help Thailand, whose economic ills forced it to accept an
 International Monetary Fund bailout last year following a crash in
 the value of its currency.  Cohen said then that payments for the
 F-A-18s might be stretched out or deferred.  The Thais wanted U.S.
 permission to resell the jets to another country.
     The United States has no troops based permanently in Thailand, a
 country of 59 million people. U.S. Navy ships frequently call on
 Thai ports and troops from the two nations hold training exercises
 together.
 ===
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