European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 23, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday May 23, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 5 of feared accidental ignition of my newspaper obtains report on july 1988 incident Casier. Wyo. A air Force Crews responding to the collapse of an my missile in an underground silo last summer were concerned thai the rocket could have accidentally ignited according to a report published sunday. Ignition inside silo a to at . Warren fab could have strewn highly radioactive plutonium around the site near Guernsey the Casper Star Tribune said in a report based on the air Force s final Accident report which the newspaper obtained through a Freedom of information request. It. Col. Charles r. Bama was quoted in the Accident report As saying work Crews worried that the rocket s solid fuel might have been cracked by the collapse. If you have cracked propellant and you Start mov ing it you can gel friction within the crack and there was concern that it could cause ignition he said. It the missile s condition was an unknown. We were operating under the rocket maker Morton Thio Kol premise that said it was relatively stable if you Don t move too fast and Don t put a lot of Energy into the system nothing will  he said. Air Force officials declined comment when contacted by the newspaper. The missile capable of delivering 10 nuclear War Heads Slid about 6 inches Down in its silo sometime Between last june 12 and june 15 when part of the rocket s aft skirt collapsed. During the incident the missile gave a missile away signal but air Force officials in their initial report attributed that to the rocket s umbilical Cord breaking away when the weapon settled to the base of its silo. The Washington Post reported in january that the Accident led the air Force to take the heavy warheads off that missile and four others from the same production Batch that had a common problem. The newspaper said the action was taken to relieve weight on the missile until the problem could be solved. Investigation determined that the collapsed missile s fuel did not crack. In addition the severing of the umbilical Cord meant there was no direct electrical connection and a grounding system to protect the mis Sile from Static electricity was intact the newspaper said. The air Force said the chances of an accidental ignition were less than one in 10 million. An outside military authority retired Navy capt. James t. Hush told the Star Tribune the ignition Dan Ger was much higher but admitted he had no involve ment with the my missile. He is associate director of the Center for defense information in Washington. Bush said the greatest danger of an accidental ignition of the solid rocket fuel is the heal it would create inside the scaled silo. This fire would Cook off or explode the he High explosive component of the warhead he said. You then have a High explosive yield which would possibly blow open the missile Hatch and distribute radioactive material for some unknown distance. That would be very  Reagan urges redrawing of congressional districts Chicago a former president Reagan said sunday the House of representatives has become almost a Perma nent chamber with less turnover than the supreme soviet and called for fairness in congressional redistricting. Reagan urged state governments to set up bipartisan citizen commissions to re draw boundaries after the 1990 National census. I think it will be a big Issue in the 1990s and i intend to be in the thick of  Reagan said in a 20-minute speech to More than 4,000 people attending the National restaurant association s 70th restaurant and hotel Motel show. I am putting the legislators on notice to keep it fair or they May find the gip per on the Steps of their state capitols calling attention to their shenanigans he said drawing laughter. Reagan also called for Steps to balance the Federal budget saying he was work ing to help future presidents. Get the tools they need to bring the budget under control including a constitutional amendment calling for a balanced budget and the presidential Power to veto a Bud get line by line. The Republican senior statesman said in the stars and stripes 40 years ago today. May 23, 19.49 former defense Secretary James v. For Rostal 57, jumped to his death from a window of the naval medical Center in Bethesda md., where he had been hospitalized for two months for exhaustion. 30 years ago foday. May 23, 1959 Gen. Lauris Norstad supreme Allied commander in Europe said atomic weapons ideally should be stockpiled on norwegian Terri tory in order to be available near the soviet Border. 20 years ago foday. May 23. 1969 judge Warren e. Burger 61, of the . Circuit court of appeals in Washington was named by president Nixon to succeed Earl Warren As chief Justice of the United states. 10 years ago  23, 1979 an explosion in Boston Power station left a Large part of the City and several of its suburbs with out electricity for most of the Day. The House of representatives which is dominated by democrats has become virtually a permanent  it has less turnover than the supreme soviet Reagan said pointing out that 98 percent of the incumbents who ran for re election last year won. He called gerrymandering the Rig Ging of congressional districts boundaries to assure a majority vote to one party or another an abuse of Power trial distorts  Reagan said americans must be Vig Ilant and protective of their Powers or those Powers will be ceded to washing  Strong and courageous. ,. Go to the polls. Take an interest in govern ment and let your representatives know How you feel. And what you  he  reiterated his support for repealing the 22nd amendment to the Constitution which limits a president to two  i m already out to pasture this amendment does t affect me but i think it should be repealed he said la Beling it another area where the peo ple s democratic rights arc being thwart  his speech Reagan stayed on stage for 40 minutes to answer question from the audience sign autographs and shake  what he was doing with his spare time he noted that he had made a number of speeches in the four months since he left the presidency. I m looking for my spare time the former president joked. I m enjoying  Center of attention vice president ban Quayle draws a crowd of youngsters As he Palms a basketball with his left hand during a visit to the Nazareth Day Nursery in new York City last week. Quayle stopped at the Center on his nay to a ceremony at which he was honoured by the National father s Day committee. Florida May invest in Eastern airlines Tallahassee Fla. A gov. Bob Martinez May try to use Florida s $17 billion pension fund to Back the Pur Chase of Eastern airlines in an Effort to protect jobs provided by the Miami based airline the Miami Herald and the Palm Beach Post said sunday. The two newspapers said an invest ment of at least $50 million was being considered. Two High ranking state aides were in new York Friday for talks with officials of Eastern airlines Pilot Union and financial and Legal consultants. One of them Brian Ballard Marti Nez s chief of operations confirmed the negotiations and said Martinez is extremely interested in protecting Floridi ans jobs and wants to keep Eastern in one piece and in Florida. The loan was proposed by the air line pilots association whose support of strik ing machinists has kept the Miami based airline virtually grounded since March 4. We propose to give them a very secure investment for the pension plan and get Eastern  said Randolph Babbitt executive administrator of Alpa. At the time the strike began easter employed about 30.000 workers 12,000 of them in Florida the unions were seeking the financial help As part of negotiations Between the airline unions and two potential buyers Chicago commodities trader Joseph Ritchie and former Piedmont aviation inc. President William Howard. An Eastern spokesman scoffed at the investment idea saturday. The Ritchie and Howard proposals can Best be described As  Robin Matell said. Neither one is economically realistic. If the slate chooses to invest its Money that Way it will probably be the fastest method on record to find Oul whether pensioners can survive on social Security checks  details of the offers from Ritchie and Howard have been unavailable Bui both reportedly Call for $210 million in wage concessions in each of the next live years in Exchange for partial ownership. To guarantee the state Money the unions would agree to place 1 percent of the airline s labor payroll in an escrow account As insurance thai the state would receive a return on the investment