Three die in California plane crash
   MENDOCINO, Calif. - March 15, 1998 11:12 p.m. EST - A twin-engine
 plane crashed shortly after taking off Sunday in dense fog from a
 small airstrip. All three people aboard were killed.
     The victims, whose names were not immediately released, were
 from the Sacramento area, airport officials said.
     "They had just taken off and went into the clouds and the pilot
 got disoriented," said John Merriman of Coast Flyers, a company at
 Little River Airport. "They stalled out and then spun in. They hit
 straight in. There wasn't much left of it."
     The plane arrived earlier in the day at the airport south of
 the tourist town of Mendocino, 130 miles north of San Francisco.
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   Israeli brigadier general, crewman killed in helicopter crash
     JERUSALEM - March 15, 1998 10:36 p.m. EST - An Israeli air force
 brigadier general and a crewman were killed Sunday when their Cobra
 military helicopter crashed into the Mediterranean Sea, the army
 said.
     Brig. Gen. Tal Shmuel Eldar, 45, was one of the highest-ranking
 air force officers ever killed in a military air accident, according
 to the army. A 20-year-old second lieutenant, Ilan Gur, also died in
 the crash.
     The pilot of a military helicopter flying escort said he saw the
 other chopper's tail shaking, and then it suddenly swerved hard,
 lost speed and "fell apart."
     The craft disintegrated, he said on Israel TV, with the tail
 breaking off and hitting the propeller before the wreckage plummeted
 into the sea.
     It was the second air force accident in two weeks. On March 1,
 an air force F-15 fighter crashed during a training flight, killing
 the pilot and navigator.
     Army radio said the accident occurred about 15 miles north of
 Tel Aviv, off Kibbutz Gash. The chopper was headed for Palmachim air
 force base, 10 miles south of Tel Aviv, where Eldar was commander.
     Israeli navy boats and helicopters combed the area following
 Sunday morning's crash, but the bodies had not yet been recovered.
 The families of the two men have been notified.
     The army has launched an investigation and grounded its Cobra
 fleet.
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   Sandstorm diverts planes from Cairo airport, closes Suez Canal
     CAIRO, Egypt - March 15, 1998 2:01 p.m. EST - A sandstorm forced
 the closure of the Suez Canal and the diversion of flights from
 Cairo's airport Sunday.
     The seasonal storm known as a Khamaseen, or 50-day wind, reduced
 visibility in Egypt's capital to about one-third of a mile.
     In Port Said, officials closed the Suez Canal when the wind
 reached 35 knots. Twenty-eight ships had to drop anchor at the
 northern and southern ends of the canal.
     Cairo International Airport rerouted one plane to Hurghada on
 the Red Sea and three others to Luxor in southern Egypt.
     A sandstorm last year, described as the worst in 30 years,
 killed at least 18 people after the wind whipped up fires and poor
 visibility led to road accidents.
     The Khamaseen blows across Egypt every March and April, carrying
 desert sand into the cities and towns of the Nile Valley.
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