European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 24, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 a the stars and stripes sunday november 24, 1991 crash report suggests human error by Effie Bathen Nairn Borg Bureau human error May have led to an Apache helicopter crash in Southern Germany last year that killed its 11th aviation brigade Crew of two according to a recently released report on the Accident. The ah-64 Apache was on a routine training flight oct. 29, 1990, when it struck a Power line near Biersdorf Germany about 15 Miles North of Niernberg. The aircraft struck the top wire with a Blade of its main Rotor system and crashed about 400 meters away in a Field. A the Crew simply did not detect the wire Hazard a wrote capt. John w. Williams the officer who conducted the crash investigation. Chief warrant officer 3 John a. Wilkinson and chief warrant officer 2 Clarence e. Hall died in the crash which occurred in Light fog. Hall was the Pilot and Mission commander for the training flight involving four apaches. Procedure usually Calls for the Pilot and Mission commander to be different individuals said v corps spokesman it. Col. Richard m. Bridges. Although no single external Factor could be blamed the report said a task overload on the helicopters Pilot May have contributed to the Accident. A there is some evidence to support the theory that Hall was being overloaded at the time a the document said. The report that was released was based on a so called collateral investigation and is separate from the official safety report on the crash. Bridges said that the conclusions of the two reports can differ. The safety investigation is conducted to determine what caused an Accident so that such an Accident can be prevented in the future Bridges said. The collateral investigation is conducted to establish whether wilful misconduct or Gross neg the Crew simply did not detect the wire Hazard a capt. John w. Williams licence occurred. None was found in the collateral investigation Bridges said. The Accident occurred under difficult flying conditions he noted but under condition san which the aviators were trained to Fly. The safety report can be obtained Only through a Freedom of information act request to the . Army safety Center at fort Rucker ala., Bridges said. The report listed several factors that May have contributed to the fatal Accident. Among them were a Many radio Calls were made during what should have been radio silence. Two gave alerts about wires that were basically undetectable even though they were on the Mission maps. A an i r infrared crossover was taking place. This is a phenomenon m which objects such As soil Concrete water and Trees approach or reach the same temperature making them difficult to distinguish on infrared based vision systems. A regulations required a weather update for flying after 6 40 . The flight took off at 6 55 . Without one. Although a violation of operating procedures it was judged to be  earlier in the Day Hall delivered an extensive briefing that included the locations of wires. But when the Accident occurred the report said Hall was performing several tasks at the same time coordinating the activities of the four apaches including his own making radio Calls and flying the Apache in what investigators said was its a most difficult flight  the difficult flying referred to in the report was Low level flight using an infrared sighting system built into the Apache. Investigators recommended among other Points that a single code word be used to Alert pilots to Power lines to keep air ays Clear. This is already Standard operating procedure with the present command Bridges said. But he Aid not know whether the same procedure was followed at the time of the Apache crash. Bridges noted that commanders wants amps map training to be As close to real Battle As possible. A they Are faced with the Challenge of training their pilots so that they will survive in a combat situation. But the training that they have to Force these Guys through occurs during peacetime in the Countryside of Germany a he said. In actual Battle calling out obstacles during radio silence could get a flier killed he said. This is Bridges said a a profession where mistakes done to have to be big to cause grievous  says 51% want More airline safety rules Washington a More than half of americans believe that airlines need More government safety regulations according to a poll released Friday. The poll conducted by the Roper organization for the Al Cion a transportation trades department found that 51 percent of those surveyed thought there was not enough government regulation of airline safety. Two percent thought there was too much and 28 percent said it was just right. A report accompanying the poll noted that the opinions were expressed a despite the absence of any recent major airline accidents at the time of  in addition the Survey found that 37 percent said there had been no change in commercial airline safety recently. Fourteen percent thought the airlines were safer and 26 percent said safety was worse. The poll also found that 33 percent thought there was not enough regulation of airline services and fares while 37 percent said it was just right. Seven percent said there was too much. On the question of whether service is better or worse 23 percent said it had declined 11 percent said it improved and 39 percent said there was no change. The poll was conducted in face to face interviews with 987 adults sept. 714. . Set to foot $70 million Bill for extra boots Washington a the 1992 defense spending Bill about to gain final passage by Congress includes a provision to require the defense department to buy $70 million Worth of combat boots even though the department already has 2 million pairs in Stock. The provision was added at the last minute after executives of the Pentagon a four combat Boot suppliers met with representatives of several senators and congressmen with influence Over defense spending. The $70 million will buy roughly 1.5 million pairs of boots a half again As Many As the Pentagon had been buying in the years before it started cutting the size of the armed forces. Next year the military is scheduled to shrink by 106,000 people. Frank Johnson a spokesman at the defense personnel support Center in Philadelphia which buys All the military s clothing said in an interview Friday that shortly before the persian Gulf War the Pentagon was cutting Back on Boot buys. For the War and its five month buildup in which More troops were deployed than in any other conflict since the Vietnam War the Pentagon spent $63.2 million to buy an extra 1.4 million pairs of combat boots Johnson said. Now the defense department has an inventory of about 2 million pairs he said. Johnson said the 2 million Are not really a surplus but rather a Normal Stock from which the armed services resupply throughout the year As boots Wear out. The defense Bill provision justified the $70 million expenditure on grounds that it would provide a steady income for a bookmaking Industry that is a a fragile because of the military a past pattern of irregular orders for new boots. Seven teen year old Michael Agney Sas. Little Luck helped him can. A perfect score on the Scholastic aptitude test Luck helped student Ace sat Melbourne Fla. Apr Michael Agney says it took a Little Luck and a lot of general knowledge to make a perfect score of 1,600 in the Scholastic anti tude test. A Luck did no to Hurt on one or two questions a said Agney 17, a Melbourne High school senior. A Only about 10 of the More than 1 million students who take the sat each year earn perfect scores. The exam is required for admission to Many colleges and universities. A i studied about two or three hours a couple of nights before the test and the rest comes from All the books i read and the general knowledge in be accumulated a Agney said thursday. The sat has two sections verbal and math with a possible score of 800 on each. Average scores for . Students this year were 422 on the verbal Section and 478 on the math. Agney Hopes to attend Massachusetts Institute of technology or California Institute of technology an become a research scientist