Report: Crandall to announce retirement as American Airlines chief
     FORT WORTH, Texas - April 15, 1998 5:21 a.m. EDT - After 18 years
 as the head of American Airlines, Robert Crandall is expected to
 announce his retirement to the airline's executives Wednesday, The
 New York Times reports.
     Crandall, 62, is expected to leave his job in mid-May and will be
 succeeded by American's president, Donald Carty, the Times said.
     Crandall is credited with helping to develop some of the modern
 airline industry's most significant innovations, including frequent
 flier programs, deep-discount fares and sophisticated computer
 reservation systems.
     Crandall took over as president of American in 1980 and became
 chairman and CEO in 1985. He joined the airline in 1973 as senior
 vice president for finance and later came to head its marketing
 operations.
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            Mexican helicopter crashes, 1 dead, 5 injured
     MEXICO CITY, April 14 - A Bell 212 helicopter belonging to
 Mexico's Attorney General's Office (PGR) crashed upon landing in
 rural Mexico Tuesday, killing the navigator and injuring five
 people, the PGR said.
     The craft went down with six people aboard in the town of
 Petatlan in the state of Guerrero, about 200 miles (300 km)
 southwest of Mexico City and about 100 miles (160 km) up the
 coast from Acapulco.
     Navigator Robert Zayago died in the crash. The PGR did not
 detail the mission that the helicopter was on. That office runs
 the Federal Judicial Police and has a major role in combating
 illegal drug trafficking throughout Mexico.
     The PGR said the helicopter was attempting a landing on loose
 ground when the rotor blades whipped up a dust storm that
 enveloped the helicopter, blinding pilot Jose Olive Camacho.
     The tail rotor struck a post and the helicopter plunged about
 12 to 15 feet (3 to 4 metres) to the ground.
     Two of the five injured were hospitalized with broken bones
 while the other three suffered minor injuries, the PGR said.
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               FAA unveils new aviation safety agenda
     WASHINGTON - April 14, 1998 8:37 p.m. EDT -- The government
 announced air safety measures Tuesday aimed at averting the "inevit-
 able prospect" of additional airplane crashes as the number of
 annual U.S. passengers climbs to 1 billion in the next decade.
     Regulators will try to reduce the accident rate among commercial
 airliners by introducing more rigorous engine inspections by June
 and mandatory installations of enhanced ground warning devices by
 2001.
    "With the help of this initiative, we will make sure that in the
 21st century, American families enjoy even safer and certain home-
 comings than we do today," Vice President Al Gore said during a news
 conference at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Behind him,
 jets roared into the sky or screeched to a halt after landing.
     Joining Gore at the announcement were Transportation Secretary
 Rodney Slater and Federal Aviation Administration chief Jane Garvey.
 In a departure from past practice, their agencies spent the past seven
 months meeting with aircraft makers, airlines and labor groups,
 seeking a common safety agenda. Previously, safety priorities have
 often differed by group and shifted with each accident.
     Airlines, working in concert with the Department of Transportation
 and the FAA, plan to improve cabin safety by cracking down on pas-
 senger interference with flight crews and by expanding the use of
 seatbelts and limiting the number and size of carry-on bags.
     In the general aviation arena, which includes business jets,
 civilian planes and helicopters, the FAA will work to provide more
 timely and less expensive weather information. Private pilots often
 fly by sight, making accurate weather information critical to them.
     "We have developed a focused, a data-driven, a prioritized safety
 agenda that will get us where we need to go, that will get us where
 we need to be: a lower accident rate," said Garvey.
     The Air Line Pilots Association, which represents 49,000 pilots
 at 48 U.S. and Canadian air carriers, called the new measures an
 "important first step."
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