European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 25, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes thursday july 25,1991in Kuwait linked to desert heat Kuwait apr desert heat is suspected in an ammunition explosion that killed three american soldiers. Officials said wednesday that conditions remain hazardous As troops try to Clear away the ordnance debris from two explosions. Army Crews worked to Clear away remains from tuesdays Accident whose victims had been cleaning up from an earlier blast near an Allied Camp in Doha 12 Miles West of Kuwait City a clearly it is extremely dangerous out there still a said an officer at the . Military a joint information Bureau in Dhahran saudi Arabia who spoke on condition of anonymity. The army said in a statement tuesday that the cause of the Accident had not been determined but that a we know it was not due to hostile action or  an investigation began immediately army spokesmen said. Munitions experts suspect heat was to blame. They say unexploded shells Are particularly troublesome in Kuwait a desert climate a where temperatures at times top 140 degrees. The ammunition tends to overheat and can a Cook off a or explode spontaneously the experts say. The soldiers were Clearing ammunition left from a fire and explosion that showered the Doha Camp with shrapnel and shells july 11, after a previous apparent accidental detonation the army statement said. That incident injured 53 american and six British soldiers. The soldiers killed tuesday were moving ordnance that detonated the statement said. The officer in saudi Arabia said families were being notified and that names of the victims would be released at the Pentagon. The deaths tuesday brought to 16 the number of . Troop fatalities since the Gulf War ended. All were accidental caused by traffic accidents mines or explosions said an army officer who asked not to of identified. Reporters have been barred from the Doha Camp since the july 11 incident believed to have been caused by an electrical Short in a truck loaded with 155mm howitzer shells. Military officials said sabotage was not suspected in that Case either. The Camp houses 3,700 american soldiers mostly members of the 11th army Cav regt deployed from Fulda  service set today for slain technical sergeant ramste1n a Germany a a memorial service will be held at 2 . Today for tech. Sgt. Scott r. Kincaid at the bases Chapel 2, building 2403. Kincaid 27, died Early monday after being shot once in the Chest. He is survived by his wife Jayne and his daughter Amer 2, of Brucemi Zibach Germany. Faces no places Only 27 of Safe s Al 6s reported with fatigue cracks from staff and wire reports Only 27 of about 180 f-16 Jet fighters assigned to . Air forces Europe bases have fatigue cracks As described in the authoritative Janes defence weekly a command spokesman said tuesday. All 27 aircraft that have the cracks belong to the 86th fighter Wing at Ramstein a said Safe spokesman Doug Moore. The command also bases f-16s at Torre Jon a Spain and Hahn and Span Dahlem air bases in Germany. The British based journal reported tuesday that 2,900 of the fighters operated by the United states and other countries Are affected by cracking due to Metal fatigue. Among those were 1,861 operated by the . Air Force. Repairs will Cost More than is billion Jane a said. The air Force said tuesday that its f-16 fighters that it would spend $250 million to fix the problem in the next few years. Air Force officials said they did not were developing cracks under the stress of flight and Laspe f pc know where Jane a got the $1.23 billion figure. Air Force officials said that so far they had found cracks on about a dozen of the nations 1,600 f-16s, although not All have been inspected. They added that they expected cracks to be discovered on Many More planes As inspections continue. They also noted that More f-16s were Likely to develop cracks. The cracks Many of which Are just thousandths of an Inch wide have been found along the area where the Wing is joined to the fuselage. Air Force and Pentagon officials said that the cracks did not appear to pose a safety risk and that the f-16 Fleet had not been grounded. They said the cracking was a result of the single engine single seat plane carrying More weight Ana being flown More aggressively than originally intended. The Safe aircraft were identified through Normal inspections which involve structural integrity checks. A the majority of these 27 aircraft fall within the 50-hour re inspection criteria a Moore said. That Means that after every 50 hours of flying time each aircraft is Spe. A a Ide 25 hours. Only one f-16 assigned to Safe has been grounded because of a crack in the Wing Moore said but it is not the same Type of problem Jane a reported. Inspected and the length of the crack is measured. He added that a few of the aircraft Are re inspected every that plane will be repaired at a european facility probably in Belgium he said. None of Ramstein a f-16s deployed to Southwest Asia for operations desert shield or desert storm. Moore said the cracks have not had any effect on training. Capt. Betsy Freeman an air Force spokeswoman at the Pentagon said officials Are curious As to Why this Issue is surfacing now. A a it a really old news a Freeman said. A we went around and around on it in May and once several months before that. We be been very forthcoming about the fact that we re having crack problems with the f-16.�?� the problems Are showing up for the most part in the upper portions of the bulkheads on either Side of the fuselage where the aircraft swings Are attached Freeman said. The f-16, manufactured by general dynamics is a single engine single seat fighter capable of operating at twice the Speed of sound at 40,000 feet Jane a said. The plane introduced in the late 1970s, has been sold to Belgium Denmark the Netherlands Norway Israel Pakistan Egypt Venezuela South Korea Turkey Greece Indonesia Singapore and Thailand. General dynamics has come up with a modification kit for the Airframe but Freeman said she has seen nothing to indicate thus far that total Wing replacement will be needed on any f-16s, contrary to what the Jane a article says. She said there was no indication that any sort of an f-16 crack problem was endemic to the planets use during operation desert storm. The nature of the . Air War in which american pilots were rarely challenged in Aerial dogfights would minimize cracking problems resulting directly from those missions she said. Freeman also could not say How Many of the air planes Are Down for repairs at any one time since the cracks done to develop at the same rate a although she said the problem is being seen across the entire Fleet. A obviously its an air plane in need of a fix a Freeman said. A a we be asked a whole lot of this plane Over the years. But when you add weight modify the Mission the need for Money for structural repairs at some Point Down the Road becomes  staff writers Peggy Davidson in Kaiserslautern Germany Meridith Winder in England and Chuck Vonch in Washington contributed to this article Dod airlifts food to albanians Washington a amps the defense department completed its first humanitarian Airlift into Albania wednesday carrying 280,000 pounds of food into the capital of Tirana spokesman Pete Williams said. The Mission conducted under the auspices of the Pentagon a office of humanitarian assistance resulted from Secretary of state James a. Baker Illus recent trip to Albania Williams said. The deliveries started sunday. Albania which has the lowest per capita income in Europe recently held its first democratic elections since communists took Over the government after world War ii. Baker promised $6 million in Aid when he visited the country june 23. Two air Force c-5 Galaxy transport planes based at Dover fab del., belonging to the 436th military Airlift Wing and on duty in saudi Arabia flew from Dhahran to Nas Simonella Sicily. They were carrying 280,000 pounds of excess food a about 80 percent meals ready to eat a As Well As canned goods Williams said. Since monday a c-141b Star lifter out of Simonella has been ferrying the supplies to Tirana in a series of eight flights. Robert Wolthuis Deputy assistant Secretary of defense for global affairs accompanied the first flight into  s latest woe wrong number on shirt from wire reports Willie Nelson fans Are trying to help him Settle his $17 million tax debt by buying his new recording. The problem is they be been calling the wrong number. Hundreds of people wanting to order the album who la buy my memories the irs tapes dialled an incorrect toll free number 1-800-irs-tape. Nelson displayed the number on Hist shirt when he appeared on Abc tvs primetime live last week. The number rang through to a Salt Lake City video sales firm that has nothing to do with the promotion. After about 500 Calls visual technology operations manager Jon Richards said he had decided to let Nelson lease or buy the number. The country Singer who owes the internal Revenue service $17 million in Back taxes interest and penalties will receive royalties of about $6 for each copy of the  and Well on a stamp there May be a lot of Elvis sightings a on envelopes a starting in 1993. Postmaster general Anthony Frank says a postage stamp honouring Elvis Presley might become a reality. A a we re edging closer to it All the time a Frank said tuesday on cd so a this morning. A i think there a a Chance that we might see it in 1993. We re working with our citizens advisory committee on Stamps and i think they re edging closer to  gets canned life has imitated Art for John Campbell the teacher who inspired Robin Williams a Oscar nominated performance in the movie dead poets society. Campbell 55, was told this month that his contract with the exclusive Detroit country Day school in Beverly Hills mich., wont be renewed. A i done to fit their corporate image a said Campbell who taught history government and English to Williams and other students during his 28 years at the private school. A i have been for a Long time very unconventional. The chairs in my classroom Are not in straight  school officials issued a statement saying the dismissal followed years of reprimands and that Campbell had a not satisfactorily demonstrated a willingness to adhere to All the academic and professional standards of the  when dead poets society premiered in 1989, Williams who grew up in nearby Birmingham said Campbell was the inspiration for the Way he portrayed the eccentric teacher John Keating in the film