The nation in brief

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 16, 2001

Crash kills 9 after sky diving trip

TOOELE, Utah -- A twin-engine plane returning from a weekend sky diving trip to Nevada spiraled into the Great Salt Lake, killing all nine people aboard.

Searchers found seven bodies washed up on shore Monday and the two other victims floating in the lake. Duck hunters alongshore found parachutes, clothing, the pilot's log book and other debris.

The plane was on a flight from Mesquite, Nev., when it went down in about 5 feet of water around 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Airport officials didn't know it was missing until a relative of a passenger called hours later.

There had been no distress signal, and none of the bodies was wearing a parachute.

Shuttle launch delayed

CAPE CANAVERAL -- NASA on Monday delayed the launch of the shuttle Atlantis for at least three weeks, sending the spacecraft back to the hangar for additional booster inspections.

Shuttle managers made the decision just hours before the countdown was to begin for a Friday liftoff. The five astronauts had yet to fly in from Houston.

The launch of the space station laboratory, Destiny, is now targeted for no earlier than Feb. 6.

NASA wants more time to inspect electrical cables that connect the shuttle with its two solid-fuel rocket boosters.

Army drops gay case

PHOENIX -- The Army said Monday that it has dropped efforts to dismiss an Arizona lawmaker from a reserve unit because he said during a legislative debate that he is gay.

An Army spokesman said the case was dismissed after Rep. Steve May, a reserve lieutenant, agreed not to re-enlist once his current term expires May 11.

Lt. Col. Bill Wheelehan, an Army spokesman, said: "Time was going to run out in the next four months to get this man out. You can't (dismiss) an officer that rapidly when the officer is using everything at his disposal" to appeal.

In prison escapes

OKLAHOMA: Two convicts escaped early Monday from the state's super-maximum security prison in McAlester, Okla., robbed two women and fled in a stolen car, triggering a massive search in southeastern Oklahoma, law enforcement officials said.

It was the first time inmates successfully breached the Oklahoma State Penitentiary's 9-year-old H-Unit, where death row inmates and troublemakers are confined.

Authorities identified the escapees as murderer James Robert Thomas, 25, and kidnapper Willie Lee Hoffman, 21.

TEXAS: The reward was raised to $440,000 Monday for the arrest and indictment of seven escaped convicts accused of killing a police officer in a Christmas Eve holdup. The FBI added $140,000 to the $300,000 reward fund.

Also Monday

REAGAN RECOVERING: Doctors continued to express optimism about former President Ronald Reagan's smooth rebound from surgery for his broken hip.

"He sat up in a chair on Sunday afternoon, has already done so this morning and will be encouraged to do so again this afternoon," said Reagan spokeswoman Joanne Drake in her daily report from St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif.

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