European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 7, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday february. 1986 stars and stripes Page 7 congressional pane blasts airline safety habits. 4 c at Noti of a Pfertsh of Washington n it the first congressional hear ing on the air crash in which 248 american soldiers were killed in Newfoundland turned into sweeping criticism wednesday of safety practices in the airline Industry. It also marked the first time that the defense depart ment had publicly accepted responsibility for the care of military personnel on charter flights. Previously the Pentagon had said this was up to the Federal aviation administration or to the International organization that chartered such nights. The House armed services subcommittee on investigations led by rep. Bill Nichols d-ata., began hearings on the charter flight that crashed dec. 12 after taking off from Gander Airport. The plane operated by Arrow air of Miami was flying members of the 101st airborne div Back to fort Campbell ky., from duty with the multinational peacekeeping Force in Egypt s Sinai desert. Nichols in an opening statement said the subcommittee staff the Faa and the general accounting office had found evidence of a deterioration in aircraft  the senior Republican on the subcommittee. Rep. Larry j. Hopkins of Kentucky was More critical. He asserted that the system for transporting military personnel is an utter disgrace that showed a callous disregard for the safety four  Hopkins blamed the Faa and the Pentagon s military Airlift  senior official of the defense department Maurice  Shriber said the department of defense recognizes its responsibility to care for our military personnel regard less of any protocols whether arranged by the department of state or the multinational Force and observers. The multinational unit which has Headquarters in Rome supervises the 10-nation peacekeeping Force in the Sinai desert. It chartered the Arrow air dc-8 in which the soldiers were flying Home in december. Route of Arrow air charter Canada Mcdonnell Douglas dc-8srs63 Type Pas song Lia sport Venn Hail Tim Nango 4.500 a a Munmum ipod 563 . Pic Ltd 259 Pas songs dimm Toni we Span 1i j s in Kmim 187 it 4 n., Hwan h so. Futuristic fantasy an wits for photon in there. They by the in which buyers shoot it out harmless ought Ray guns to � space ave a  Shriber. A Deputy assistant Secretary of defense for logistics said 95ppcrcenl of the military personnel moved by air each year arc flown in chartered planes Aspre scribed by Congress. Usually those contracts Are negotiated by the Pentagon s military Airlift  said changing the system would require billion to buy 20 airliners train Crews and operate the plan a cause the air Force lacked planes to move Large numbers of military personnel around the  Foi cases contended that deregulation of the airline Industry was the underlying cause of inadequate maintenance by charter airlines and Many scheduled airline companies. N Saime of Worthington Ohio.  his Institute was a non profit organization financed by private contributions. Stiff Competition has forced the airlines to skimp on maintenance maintenance training Pilot training no qualifications and to defer maintenance he said. Galipault said that about a year before the Gander crash an employee of Arrow air had told him of instance when cockpit Crews and Cabin Crews had been kept on duly for More than 24 hours without rest. He said he had no reported that to the Faa or the Pentagon because that might have got the employee dismissed. John j. Nance a former commercial and military Pilo who is the author of Blind  a Book on the effect o deregulation on airline safely asserted thai the number of certified air carriers had expanded by 250 percen since deregulation began in 1978 Butl hat the number of Faa inspectors had dropped from 2,000 to less thai 1.400 Anthony j. Broderick the Faa associate admin Strati for aviation standards told the subcommittee that inc Canadian government which is investigating the Arrow air crash has not Given any indication of the cause. Senator wants focus funds for army s Anu a drone Washington a the army is still having serious problems with attempts to develop a Small flying drone leading to a senator s Call wednesday for a halt in production Money for the . William Roth a Del. Released a report by the general accounting office which reviewed the troubled history of the � at the very least we should halt production funds for programs like Aquila said Roth. He contended that More Competition is needed in such programs Aquila represents the army s chief at tempt to develop a Small pilotless drone that could Fly Over a Battlefield and Send Back television pictures of enemy Formica tons and artillery batteries. The service contracted with Lockheed missiles & space co. In 1979 for full scale development of such a Craft but that pro Lect has run into a series of technical prob lems and the army now says it is looking at other similar  search for a drone was Given new impetus after the 1982 israeli invasion of Lebanon in which israeli jets destroyed a Large number of syrian missile batteries with few israeli losses. The jets were guided by information sent Back by israeli drones that had flown Over the batteries. Roth called Aquila one More example in a Long line of military equipment that books great on paper but does t perform in the operational  the difficulties with the Aquila Art nothing new in the defense acquisition pro Cess said Roth. They be been occurring for decades they began during development of the Aquila in the Ford administration Esca lated when the contract became sole source during the Carter administration and the have continued to this  the fiscal 1987 budget sent to Congress on wednesday include j217 million for Aquila. Roth noted that the original Cost projections were $563 million but have no risen to $2.1 billion. The Gao noted that after major technical problems cropped up in 1984 and 1985. The army ran new tests last year and found serious performance limitations. The drones crashed too often were unable to track moving targets failed to re turn to base and were not durable enough the Gao reported. Farrakhan going to Libya despite travel restrictions Washington a Black mus Lim Leader Louis Farrakhan said he intends to vist Libya in Defiance of president Rea Gan s recently imposed travel restrictions against that country. I personally plan to travel to Libya at some time during the  Farrakhan said wednesday at a news conference packed with supporters. During a trip to Libya last year Farrak Han received a $5 million interest free loan from libyan Leader Moa mar khad Afy. Farrakhan said the Money would be used to produce and Market personal care products for Blacks through one of his affiliated in  it is against the Law for me to pay Back the loan that we borrowed from Libya i will have to take my chances because we fully intend to pay the libyans Back what we borrowed Farrakhan said. Reagan imposed economic sanctions and travel restrictions against Libya following the dec. 27 Airport attacks in Rome and Vienna Austria. Palestinian gunmen threw grenades and sprayed sub machine gun fire into crowds of Holiday travellers and 20 people were killed in the attacks. The president accused khad Afy of sup porting the gunmen but the libyan Leader has denied the charge. Asked How he planned to bypass the travel restrictions Farrakhan said i m sure if the technology of America can find its Way to the Moon. I m sure we. Can find our Way to wherever we want to go