European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 4, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes Friday april 4, 1986 challenger panel will propose Independent flight safety Check Washington a the Chal Lenger investigating commission said thurs Day it will recommend that an Independent safety panel oversee All future space shuttle flights to remedy what one commissioner called Nasa s perpetual movement head ing for  related Story Page 5. The idea raised by astronaut Henry Hartsfield was instantly endorsed by com Mission chairman William p. Rogers who said All of us think there should be an Independent safety panel of some  one commissioner said an astronaut should be on the safety panel. The commission at the midpoint of its four month life heard four of America s most experienced astronauts say they did not know or did not realize the seriousness of potential Booster rocket problems. It was another example of a communications breakdown within the National aeronautics and space administration uncovered by the commission which is trying to find the cause of the Jan. 28 explosion that destroyed challenger and killed its Crew of seven including schoolteacher Christa Mcauliffe. After hearing Hartsfield describe the shuttle As the most magnificent and fantastic machine commission member Rich Ard p. Feynman commented that it is also a risky machine with flaws and difficulties. I tried to figure out where the difficulty is in this system that made it go wrong he said. The problem is communication and that communication will be fixed if you have the safety panel if there is a member of the astronauts on the safety panel be cause then you la be fully aware of All the things that Are  Nasa practice Feynman said is to review flight problems agonize Over them and then decide to Fly despite the problems. If nothing fails he said it is suggested therefore that that risk is no longer so High. For the next flight we can lower our standards a Little bit because we got away with it last  an argument is always Given that last time it worked said Feynman a physicist who has won the Nobel prize. It s a kind of russian Roulette. There was a risk but you got away with it. But it should t be done Over and Over again. When i look at the reviews i find perpetual movement heading for  Hartsfield had said the astronauts want an Independent safety observer in launch decisions somebody that s not worried about programmatic issues or anything but just thinking  although most astronauts have said they never heard of problems with seals on the shuttle s Booster rockets astronaut Robert Crippen testified he had been told in a for Mal flight review in january 1985 that a leak was detected. Crippen was represent ing All the astronauts in that review. In truth in my perception it was t that much of a big Deal Crippen said adding that he was not aware that a waiver had been is sued which in effect acknowledged that catastrophe could result if the Seal failed. If i had been aware of the change he said i would have taken the problem much More  however the head of the astronaut of fice John Young said that he does not recall anything like that coming out from flight reviews. A leaking Seal in the right Booster rocket is believed to have caused the challenger explosion. Crippen and the other astronauts Testi fied that no escape system could have kept the astronauts alive in that situation. However astronaut Henry Hartsfield said he would like to see some sort of Low Altitude survival capability such As one that would allow astronauts to bail out. Crippen however said a bailout might not be feasible. Up photo Hitchhiker skater Scott Bailey a senior biology major at East Carolina in Greenville ., hitches a ride from his great Dane Moose on his Way to class. Bailey and Moose Are from Wil Mington  Senate probing new payoff scandal in record Industry Washington up sen. Albert Gore or. Says a new payola scandal in the record Industry including ties Between in dependent producers and the mob is More extensive than in the past and will be investigated by a Senate subcommittee. Gore d-tenn., said wednesday the probe was prompted by Media disclosures grand jury investigations and major record Label suspensions of Independent record promoters. The cumulative evidence is now Over whelming that this practice has gotten completely out of hand said Gore whose wife Tipper was part of the Effort last year to have record companies put labels on Rock music with objectionable lyrics. Congress first looked at the Issue of pay Ola the use of Money or gifts to get a record played on the radio in the late 1950s and changed the Law to outlaw the practice. Gore said the probe by the Senate per manent subcommittee on investigations is to determine whether current Laws need to be altered. A spokeswoman for the recording Indus try association of America said the organization would cooperate fully in any investigation. But she stressed the Trade association had no role in the marketing or promotion of records. Recent news reports have said Federal grand juries in new York los Angeles and Newark n.j., Are investigating possible ties Between organized crime and some in dependent record promoters. Abc news has reported some promoters offer disc jockeys and program directors Cash cars drugs and sexual favors to play certain records or to help Rig the weekly top 40 charts by falsely reporting which songs they Are playing. Nearly All of the major labels stopped using Independent promoters when Federal authorities began investigating the charges. Many of those promoters claim they Are honest and Are being Hurt because of the wrongdoing of a few. Gore said the so called new payola is much More extensive than past practices involves More Money and a greater connection Between a Small network of Independent promoters who allegedly have carved up the country into  in recent years it has become Abun Dantly Clear that this practice has not gone away. It s alive and Well and worse than Ever Gore said. Gore began a similar investigation three years ago when he was in the House. But he said Many people were unwilling then to speak publicly about the problem some because they feared reprisals and Noth ing was done. But Gore told reporters he did not expect to have similar problems this time because a consensus has developed in the music Industry that the problem needs to be solved. It payola should be stamped out Gore said. The object of this investigation is exactly  dazed Driver in clean sweep Richmond Calif. A a car driven by an 80-year-old woman went out of control in a Gas station s car Wash hitting a Gas pump setting the station on fire and wrecking five cars police an witnesses said. Damage in the crash on wednesday was Esti mated at More than $300,000. I Don t really know How it happened said Lily Fowler. "1 just shot through the car Wash like a Bullet. The car was going so fast i could t think How to shut it  there were no injuries and no citations issued. Witnesses said the car zoomed out of the car Wash and slammed into a passing car then smashed through a Fence and went Back into the service station. It hit a Gas pump and a car before coming to a Stop against a Cement Wall. When the car hit the Gas pump she caused a massive explosion and Gas leak said police sgt. Michael Pon. There was a loud whoosh and flames shot up right after she ran Over the pump said car Wash employee Lionel Johnson. People just started run Ning  four cars including Fowler a were engulfed inflames. Robert better 29, a passer by threw a Brick through the Windshield of Fowler s car and pulled her free. Fires still Burn in Southeast states As officials crack Down on arsonists by the associated press firefighters battling blazes that have charred More than a half million acres in the Southeast were hanging on by the skin of our Teeth thursday and stepping up a crackdown on arsonists As forecasts said rain was still Days away. The dry weather has fuelled 42,204 fires covering 583,056 acres of land this year in parts of the . Forest service Region encompassing 13 Southeastern states said Bruce Jewell uses spokesman in Atlanta. At least four people have died fighting fires three in Tennessee and one in Ohio. We re trying to shuttle Crews around to give some Relief to the hardest worked Crews said Dwight Barnett of the ten Nessee division of forestry. We re hanging by the skin of our Teeth. You really have no Choice but to go  in Tennessee at least five fires raged out of control including a 400-acre Blaze in Cocke county. Major fires also raged near Chattanooga and in Overton county Barnett said. Officials say arsonists Are believed responsible for at least half the 3,850 fires that have blackened 44,300 ten Nessee acres this year. Barnett said reports that investigators were stepping up their efforts to find arsonists May have kept the number of blazes Down wednesday. Forecasters said thundershowers could begin hitting much of the Region by saturday and the beginning of next week. West Virginia officials said a drop in wind an increase in humidity and a ban on outdoor burning meant they might get a break. Nine fires were reported out of control thursday but it looks a lot lot better said District Forestor Gerald Wimer in Milton. Jerry Atkins assistant state Forestor said 47 fires broke out across the state wednesday Down from 91 reported the Day before. Atkins said the new fires brought the total in the state to 1,233 since March 1. More than 46,000 acres have been charred and More than $7 million in damage has been caused in the last 10 Days he said. Gov. Arch Moore banned outdoor burning because of extraordinary dry weather. The rash of fires has been the worst in West Virginia in a decade. A dry spell continued in Georgia As six fires burned about 700 acres. Two National guard helicopters were called to help the Virginia division of forestry fight blazes in Southwest Virginia where a 24-hour spree of fires has blackened 2,000 acres said spokesman Lou Southard. He said 994 fires had burned 7,360 acres in the state. In North Carolina firefighters thursday contained a Blaze that charred 800 acres in the great Smoky mountains National Park said Stephanie Gibert management assistant for the Park. Further control and mop up efforts should continue for a couple of  firefighters were brought in from Maine Wisconsin and Honda to help Battle the Blaze which burned about 730 acres in the Park and 70 acres of state owned land. Some 258 firefighters and support personnel were involved in the Effort. The number of Forest fires in Southern Ohio decreased with lower temperatures and less wind As forestry officials Esti mated the acreage blackened from the fires this year could exceed a springtime record of 13,000 acres set in 1950