Six survive plane crash on Alaskan mountain
     ANCHORAGE, Alaska - 5;14 a.m. ET May 28, 1998 -  Six people sur-
 vived a plane crash on an icy Alaska mountain and huddled in the
 broken fuselage for more than six hours before being rescued by
 a helicopter.
     None was seriously injured after Wednesday's ordeal, although
 National Guard Capt. Mike Haller said they appeared to be "right on
 edge of going hypothermic" in the subfreezing temperatures and
 biting wind at 10,300 feet on Mount Torbert.
     "I have to believe the angels had their arms around them," Haller
 said. "It's so extraordinary to have this kind of accident and to
 have all of them survive."
     The private Cessna 206 was bound for Anchorage when it went down
 Wednesday afternoon about 100 miles west of the city. Elmendorf Air
 Force Base pilots on a routine mission detected the wreckage, and an
 Alaska Air Guard helicopter made the rescue.
     Haller said bad weather may have been a factor in the crash.
     On May 14, all 10 people aboard a commuter plane escaped serious
 injury in a crash on a peak northeast of Nome.
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                 Boeing Predicts Delivery Delays
     SEATTLE - Boeing's push to double production on newer models of
 737s will mean delivery delays through 1998, company officials said
 today. Last week, there were about 60 757s and 737s awaiting final
 preparation for delivery outside the Renton plant - roughly four
 times the normal number. Boeing said the backup was largely a result
 of efforts to boost monthly production of the 737-600, -700, -800
 and -900 models from seven to 14 in the current quarter.
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        17 injured in severe turbulence near Papua New Guinea
     BRISBANE, Australia -- May 27, 1998 3:00 p.m. EST -- Seventeen
 people were injured early Wednesday, when a jumbo jet flying from
 Osaka, Japan, to Brisbane, Australia, struck severe turbulence.
     An Ansett Australia Boeing 747 carrying 79 passengers and 17
 crew hit "momentary heavy clear air turbulence" while at cruising
 altitude south of Papua New Guinea, according to airline spokeswoman
 Tanya Lim.
     After hitting the rough air, which caused the plane to drop
 sharply, the crew radioed ahead to Brisbane, where ambulances met
 the flight about two hours later.
     Several of the injured were taken to a hospital for treatment of
 minor injuries. Others were treated on the scene for cuts, lacera-
 tions and bruising.
     "A majority of the passengers injured have indicated they were
 not wearing seat belts," said Ansett Australia spokeswoman Siobhan
 Dooley. She said the magnitude of the drop would not be known until
 flight records had been examined, and that the turbulence could not
 have been predicted.
     Sudden turbulence over the Pacific sent a United Airlines jumbo
 jet plunging toward the sea in December, killing one woman and
 injuring 100 other passengers.
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 Scientists working on systems to detect dangerous runway turbulence
      May 27, 1998 3:00 p.m. EST - Compared to the noise of jet en-
 gines, the wake of the wind generated by big jets is quiet. But it's
 a hazard that threatens to upset airplanes flying too close behind
 it.
     Now scientists are trying to determine if they can measure the
 sound of that wake and predict dangerous turbulence. To test the
 idea, Lockheed Martin and Flight Safety Technologies have positioned
 lasers on an approach runway at New York's Kennedy Airport.
     "Nobody has looked at the application of using sound to try to
 detect and localize hazardous events," explained Richard Williams of
 Lockheed Martin, a participant in the experiment known as Project
 SOCRATES.
     The National Transportation Safety Board has photographed whirls
 of wind as they spin off the wings of a jetliner. Scientists hope
 identifying a unique sound related to those patterns would make it
 possible to design a listening technology to warn pilots of approach-
 ing turbulence.
     The system being tested at Kennedy is aimed particularly at
 turbulence that threatens flights on approach to the airport, like
 the wind shear blamed for the fatal crash of a Delta Air Lines
 flight in Dallas in 1985.
     It will cost millions of dollars to determine if SOCRATES can be
 adapted to detect clear air turbulence, like the kind that caused an
 Ansett Australia jumbo jet to drop suddenly near Papua New Guinea
 early Wednesday, injuring 17 people. Last December, a passenger
 aboard a United Airlines 747 was killed in a similar incident over
 the Pacific. The sudden phenomenon is invisible to cockpit radar, but
 the Federal Aviation Administration so far has not indicated a will-
 ingness to fund expanded experimentation with SOCRATES.
     NASA, however, is evaluating a laser system to detect clear air
 turbulence which strikes planes at cruising altitude. Advance warning
 of rough or unsteady air would boost aviation safety. According to
 the FAA, turbulence is the number one cause of injuries on commercial
 airliners.
     In the meantime, the best protection passengers have is their
 seat belts. The FAA urges all U.S. airlines to request passengers
 stay buckled up while they are seated. Two airlines, United and
 American, have decided to make it a requirement.
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