Jet fuel prices take a nosedive - But airlines aren't passing on
 savings to passengers
     WASHINGTON, March 28 - The airline industry saves $170 million
 every time the price of a gallon of jet fuel falls a penny, and jet
 fuel costs right now about 25 cents less than a year ago. So far,
 none of that is ending up in passengers' pockets.
     AIRLINES ARE keeping the savings for themselves and looking for-
 ward to bettering record 1997 profits of $5.3 billion. Why? Because
 they can.
     The nation's strong economy has created a heavy demand for air
 travel. Planes are more than 70 percent full on the average flight,
 largely business people who typically pay the most expensive fares.
     The industry's willingness to defy gravity isn't lost on some
 passengers.
     "I think I paid too much," said Judy Szugda of Derry, N.H., sit-
 ting in Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport during a layover
 on a $349 round trip to West Palm Beach, Fla.
     "I didn't have much selection in flights, and I'm not happy
 knowing how much they've been saving," she said.
     "Keep in mind that labor costs are continuing to go up, as well
 as other costs including the cost of airplanes," he said. "But none-
 theless, I am expecting that (ticket) prices will be lower in 1998
 than in 1997. And that is based on the long-term relationship between
 costs and prices in the industry: When overall costs go down, so do
 fares."
    There is much more to ticket pricing than the cost of jet fuel,
 said Joe Hopkins, a spokesman for the nations largest carrier United
 Airlines.
    "The lower cost of jet fuel presents the airlines with a rare
 opportunity to reward the consumers that have been responsible for
 the industry's record profits," said Mike Spinelli, a Lowell, Mass.,
 travel agent and president of the society.
     The drop in jet fuel prices is a major contributor to the boom
 times being experienced at the airlines. Jet fuel accounts for 15
 percent to 25 percent of an airline's operating costs, so a drop in
 the price makes a noticeable mark on the bottom line.
     At the end of 1996, the price of jet fuel hovered around 70 cents
 a gallon. Now it's selling in the range of 40 cents.
     The price of crude oil has swung widely in recent days, as record
 low prices prompted oil-producing countries to announce cutbacks de-
 signed to push prices higher. Traders are skeptical, however, that
 producers can or will live up to recent promises to slash output by
 up to 2 million barrels a day.
    The Air Transport Association projects the price of jet fuel will
 end up averaging 52 cents this year - 11 cents less than last year.
 That would translate into savings of almost $1.9 billion for the
 industry.
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  Preliminary investigation says planes struck wings
     CORONA, Calif. - March 28, 1998 07:43 a.m. EST -- Two small
 planes that collided and rained debris over a neighborhood clipped
 wings as one circled over a closed airport, a preliminary report
 concluded.
     The right wingtip of a descending twin-engine Cessna 310 hit
 the left wing of a single-engine Cessna 152, which was circling over
 Corona Municipal Airport at 3,000 feet, investigators said.
     "Minutes before the collision, the aircraft were approaching
 head-on," said Thomas Wilcox, an investigator with the National
 Transportation Safety Board.
     The preliminary investigation did not assign blame for the
 crash.
     Killed in the crash were Perry Armstrong, 56, David Cash, 56,
 and Lee H. Hunter, 49.
     Two dozen families were forced to evacuate their homes when hot
 debris from the crash torched a large house and a dozen condominium
 units.
     The NTSB findings were based on interviews with eyewitnesses,
 video of the crash recorded by a teen-ager and examination of the
 wreckage.
     A final report could take up to eight months.
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  Head pilot in fatal Fort Bragg crash reportedly liked to fly low
     RALEIGH, N.C. - March 28, 1998 07:43 a.m. EST -- Five weeks be-
 fore his helicopter crashed at Fort Bragg, killing all eight soldiers
 aboard, the lead pilot made a fellow aviator uncomfortable with his
 flying during another flight.
     Capt. Craig D. Morrow told investigators that on a mission last
 May, Chief Warrant Officer Michael D. Pannell hit a 60-foot pine
 tree on a sharp turn, damaging the helicopter's rotor blade.
     Morrow told investigators Pannell's actions on that flight had
 made him uncomfortable, according to the lead investigator.
     The Army hasn't been able to determine whether Pannell or his
 co-pilot Brad J. Ronan, was flying the Black Hawk helicopter when it
 crashed July 8. The accident has been blamed on pilot error.
     The Associated Press obtained the accident report, prepared by
 the U.S. Army Safety Center at Fort Rucker, Ala., through a Freedom
 of Information Act request.
     According to the report, Capt. Michael S. Jackson also told
 investigators "that on at least one occasion, he had observed CW2
 Pannell flying 'lower than normal' and 'close' to obstacles."
     But Chief Warrant Officer Christina L. Brunner, also a pilot,
 told investigators Pannell and Ronan had "good, sound reputations"
 as fliers.
    The findings, conclusions and recommendations of the investigation
 board and reviewing officials were blacked out on copies released by
 the safety center.
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