National briefs

By Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 12, 2000

Bodies of last 2 helicopter crew recovered

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- A frantic, two-day search for survivors of a Navy helicopter crash ended Friday when divers found the bodies of two missing airmen among the helicopter's wreckage in the Gulf of Mexico.

Four other airmen -- two dead and two injured -- were pulled from the water Thursday after the helicopter crashed during a training mission.

"This has been a very difficult situation," said Cmdr. Bob Riehl, commanding officer of the HM-15 mine countermeasures squadron based at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi. "It was very important to us to bring those last crew members back, and even more important to their families."

The MH-53E helicopter was about 17 miles off shore on a minesweeping training mission Thursday morning when crew members reported a mechanical malfunction. The copter then dropped into the water.

The Navy is putting together an investigation team, and officials have closed about five miles of beaches as they continue to recover debris from the shoreline.

Riders injured when elevator crashes at World Trade Center

NEW YORK -- An elevator at the World Trade Center overshot its stop and crashed into a ceiling Friday, throwing passengers to the floor and injuring several of them.

The elevator, carrying 12 people, was headed to the 78th floor about 8:30 a.m. when it lurched two floors higher and hit a concrete ceiling, said Ernesto Butcher, chief operating officer of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the Trade Center.

"You could see the damage to the ceiling," fire Capt. Terry Hatton said.

Eight people were taken to hospitals, where they were treated for minor injuries, said Emergency Medical Service Dr. Dario Gonzalez. All the passengers on the elevator work in the building.

"None of the injuries are life threatening," Butcher said.

Massachusetts man charged with manslaughter in hockey fight case

WOBURN, Mass. -- A man involved in a fatal fight with another parent at their sons' youth hockey game has been indicted on a manslaughter charge.

Thomas Junta, 42, was indicted Thursday for the July 5 incident in which Junta and Michael Costin fought over rough play between their sons.

Junta was asked to leave but allegedly returned to the rink to fight Costin. The 40-year-old father of four later died.

District Attorney Martha Coakley said there is no evidence that Junta was trying to kill Costin.

Elsewhere

EMERGENCY LANDING: An American Airlines flight from Chicago to Los Angeles made an emergency landing Friday at Denver International Airport after the pilot shut down one of two engines because of an unspecified problem. The pilot asked air traffic controllers for emergency priority to land, American spokesman John Hotard said. The Boeing 757 landed safely, and the 112 passengers exited through the concourse gate.

BOEING PROBLEMS: A government audit found more than 100 problems in Boeing Co. airplane production and design operations, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported. The Federal Aviation Administration study also concluded that production and quality-control woes that have plagued Boeing over the past year resulted from systemic breakdowns and were not just isolated instances, the newspaper said.

OLYMPIC INVESTIGATION: Utah's attorney general dropped her investigation and will not take any action regarding Salt Lake's tainted bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Jan Graham said Friday her investigation was covered by the July 20 federal indictment of former bid chief Tom Welch and deputy Dave Johnson.

TUNNEL CRASH: A 14-year-old boy drove a stolen car the wrong way into an expressway tunnel in Baltimore on Friday and slammed head-on into another car, killing two women and injuring himself and one other person.

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