NEWARK, N.J. (Aug. 1) - Some fliers napped on their luggage,
 others fretted they might be in for a second day of delays at
 Newark International Airport, where a rush was on to fix a runway
 torn up by a cargo plane crash.
     While federal investigators tackled the job of trying to find
 out what happened after the plane's tires touched down normally,
 officials with the Port Authority - which operates the airport -
 hoped to get the scarred runway ready to open today.
     "That's our goal. It's an ambitious goal, and we may not make
 it," said John Goglia of the National Transportation Safety Board.
     Whether it happens or not, Port Authority spokesman Bill Cahill
 said the delays weren't likely to match Thursday's havoc: hundreds
 of canceled flights, thousands of passengers scrambling to make
 alternate travel plans.
     No one was killed when the Federal Express plane flipped and
 careened into a ball of flames on the runway. The five people aboard
 crawled through a cockpit window to safety as the flames closed in.
     "It was scary. I'm lucky to be alive," off-duty FedEx employee
 Christine Meeker said in today's editions of the Daily News in New
 York.
     Thursday's crash of the MD-11 snarled air traffic as it shut
 down one of the nation's busiest airports for hours, forcing it to
 limp along handling arrivals and departures on two runways instead
 of three.
     The cargo plane gouged holes in the tarmac as it trailed flaming
 engine parts down the runway, investigators said.
     It might take most of today to fix the runway, a job that cannot
 begin until investigators finish clearing away the wreckage, Cahill
 said. The runway needed repaving, and broken lights had to be
 repaired.
     Investigators recovered the flight data and voice recorders,
 which were sent to Washington for analysis. And federal safety
 investigators said they planned to interview the pilot and co-pilot
 today.
     Rubber skid marks indicated the plane's tires touched down nor-
 mally, Goglia said.  The pilot did not radio for help or give a
 distress signal.
     "It looked like a normal landing until it turned into a ball of
 fire," said airport general manager Benjamin DeCosta.
     Some grounded passengers sat around reading or used their lug-
 gage as pillows as they napped. Hundreds more stood in snaking lines
 as they tried to find other flights or resigned themselves to the
 delays.
     "If we had a connecting flight, I'd be wild," said Karen Boehme,
 47, of Wyckoff, traveling to Washington with three friends for a
 fitness convention. "But what can you do?"
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               Boeing Completes Merger
     Aviation giant Boeing officially got even larger today. The
 Seattle-based airplane maker says it has filed documents to complete
 its $16 billion merger with industry rival McDonnell Douglas
 effective at one minute after midnight. The deal creates the world's
 largest aerospace company. It was completed seven months after it
 was announced and one day after the European Commission formally
 approved it. Boeing has scheduled employee rallies for Monday at
 its plants across the country, including St. Louis and southern
 California, where most McDonnell Douglas facilities are located.
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