Snowblower on
Cranbrook runway

CRANBROOK, B.C. (CP)
-~ A snowblower was on the
runway at the airport pear
here Feb. 11 when a Pacific
Western Airlines jet aborted
a landing and crashed killing
43 persons, a coroner's
inquest was told Monday.

Other witnesses said the
pilot of the Boeing 737 didn't
tell the air radio operator
that he was approaching the
airport, and that the jet
landed 10 minutes earlier
than a Calgary air traffic
controlier estimated it
would.

The testimony came from
three of an expected 24 wit-
nesses at an inquest Into
Canada's sixth-worst air
disaster. The packed
courtroom included lawyers
representing the estates of 16
persons killed, one survivor,
as well as the federal justice
department, the Boeing
aircraft company, the
Canadian Air Line Pilots
Association and the Alberta
government-owned airline.

Jody Weir, 17, of Cran-
brook, a PWA ground
handler, said he saw the
aircraft make a normal
landing during daylight but
with visibility limited by
snow. He then noticed a
snowblower about 500
metres down the 1,-950-
metre runway and moving in
the same direction.

Weir ‘testified that the
aircraft and blower were
about 100 metres apart when
the jet took off, flying over it,
He couldn't say if the blower
was in the centre of the

runway.

The jet climbed at a 30-de-
gree angle, he said, and its
engines were abnormally
loud aa the plane banked to
the left near the end of the
runway and crashed,
DIDN'T SEE BLOWER

Richard Lindeman of
Cranbrook, a commercial
pilot, said he was working at
the airport when he heard
the jet’s engines revving up
after it was about 500 yards
down the runway. He did not
see a snowblower on the
steip.

Lindeman said the jet lew
level with the runway for
about 600 metres, a normal
procedure for gaining speed
when aborting a flight, then
climbed, banked sharply to
the left and crashed “‘with a
soft explosion and a huge
fireball.”

He said he ran to the air
radio station and spoke to the
operator, '‘He said ‘he (the
pilot) never called in, he
never called in,'” Lindeman
testified.

Cranbrook, like many
small airports, does not have
a control tower. Air radio

‘operators give pilots in-
formation such as weather
and runway use, but they are
not licensed to control air-
craft.

Frederick Lowe, air traffic
control chief at Calgary
airport, testified that the air

Cte a

about.” *

traffic contro] centre at
Calgary guides an aircraft
until it approaches Cran-
brook,

Lowe said a_ controller
gives the aircraft clearance
to approach the Cranbrook
airport, and the pilot lands
on his own. ;

CALL NOT REQUIRED

Lindeman testified that
pilots do not have to contact
Cranbrook before landing,
unless Calgary orders them
to, but said “its good air-
manship to call in.”

A transcript of radio mes-
sages between Calgary and
the aircraft was introduced. .
[It contained messages
between Calgary and
Cranbrook, but none bet-
ween Cranbrook and the air-
erait,

It showed that three
minutes after the PWA
aircraft left Calgary for
Cranbrook, Calgary told the
Cranbrook air radio operator
that the aircraft would he
approaching in 32 minutes,
the normal flight time.

Calgary called Cranbrook
22 minutes later on ancther
matter, and the air radio
operator said ‘‘stand by
please, I've got an
emergency.”

Calgary called back nine
minutes later to ask where
the PWA aircraft was and
the operator said “he's the
emergency.”

“He's crashed and is
burning off the end of the
runway,”

“Holy Christ,” radioed

algary.
“That’s what I say,’
replied Cranbrook.

TOUCHDOWN NORMAL

Flight attendant Gail Bunn
of Edmonton, one of six
survivors, testified that the
aircraft touched down in
normally and the reverse
thrusters were applied.

The thrusters are cup-
shaped pieces of metal that
reverse the direction of a jet
engine's force and are used
for braking on touchdown.

Mrs. Bunn testified that
the plane braked on the
runway for a few seconds
before it began taking off
again, .

“We were still climbing
when we banked to the left
and crashed,'’’ she said,
calling the steep bank
“nothing ‘to be -alarmed

Mrs. Bunn said she was
sitting in the rear of the
aircraft when the aircraft's

- fuselage splitabout five rows

of seats from the hack.

While the centre section
was engulfed in flames, she
said, the rear exit door was
jammed for herself and a
passenger.

“I moved some debris
from the door,’’ she said. "I
counted to three and we both
pushed and it opened.”

The pair left the aircraft,
but returned to help a child
leave the wreckage.

WWII bomber

leaves race

ST, JOHN'S, Néld, (CP) —
The co-pilot of a Second
World War bomber forced to
drop out of a fiveplane
transatlantic flight today
hopes to have the B-25 back
inthe air early Wednesday to
continue its journey to
Britain,

David Pallichet of Hun-
tington Beach, Calif., said he
was fore: * to return early
today wi e twin-engine
plane aeveloped hydraulic
problems about an hour and
15 minutes out of Torbay
airport here. Four other
vintage warplanes in the
formation continued on their

way.

Pallichet, flying the air-
craft at the time, said the B-
25's braking system locked.
During landing, ‘‘we
shredded rubber off the right
wheel like a big transport on
the highway. it didn’t blow,
but Ittook the rubber down to
the fabric.”

At the same time the plane
was caught in a crosswind
and veered about 100 metres
off the runway, nosing into a
shallow ditch.

No one aboard was injured
and Pallichet said the plane
did not appear to have
suffered structural damage
in its encounter with the

ditch.

The aircraft was to be
towed back toa level position
alongside the runway where’
repairs were to be made to
the hydraulic system.
REPLACE TIRE

Pallichet said a request
was made to have a
replacement tire flown in
from St, Peteraburg, Fla.

Pallichet said the con-
tinuation:.of the flight, . its
timing and route, would
depend on orders ’ irom

formation commander John
Hawks, He hoped to reach
Hawks by telephone in the
Azores when the remainder
of the flight reached there.

The five planes left in
brilliant sunshine after
flying into St. John’s last
Friday from Portland, Me.
on the first leg of their trip.
Fog here and bad weather
along the route to the Azores
kept them grounded until
today. :

The flight to the Azores
would normally take about
six hours for a B-25, which
travels no higher than 4,000
metres,

The planes’ eventual
‘destination is Luton, near
London, and a role in the
movie Hanover Street,

They are privately owned
but still bear U.S. Air Force
and Second World War
markings.

Women
caught

MONTREAL (CP} —
Police sald today they have
arrested one of three women

who escaped last weekend
from Tanguay Women's Jail
in the city's north end:

Municipal police arrested
Laurette Garneau, 27, late
Monday night, a police
spokesman said, She is now
being held at provincial
police headquarters in
downtown Montreal.

Two other escapees,
Francine Lolseau, 24, and

_Sylvie Bouchard, 20, are still

at large following what
police described as a mass
jail-break attempt Sunday

ceo

Terrace Centre Mall which

nae ant aati

Across the street from Skeena Mall on Lakelse Avenue fs

still has several vacant

spaces, Construction of Skeena Mall is well underway,
with the opening date set for early fall.

Car safety act needs changes

OTTAWA (CP) — Liberal
MP Herb Gray said Tueaday
the federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Act needs amend-
ments to allow the govern-
ment to force automakers to
recall and pay for repair of
safety defects in their
products.

Gray (Windsor West} said
also that transport depart-
ment officials should im-
prove their methods of
gathering accident in-
formation to help in early
identification of problems.

Gray was commenting on

THREE WAYS TO WIN.

results of crash tests
released in Washington on
Monday indicating that 1971-
76 Ford Pintes could burst
into flames if struck from the
rear at moderate speeds.
There are about two million
of the cars in the U.S, and
about 200,000 in Canada.
Gray had been pushing the
transport department for a
full investigation of possible
Pinto defects after a U.S.
magazine said last year the
cars are "fatally explosive.”
Two Pinto fires occurred
in Gray's riding, one of them

HOW TO WIN
$2, $10, $100,
OR $1,000

skill-testing question, and
mail the entry form with
the appropriate liners
(mailing each prize claim
separately) to: Break the
Bank with Pepsi-Cola,
Box 8195, Teronte,
Ontario MSW 1588.

We recommend entries for S100

Collect contest liners from under
speciatly marked Pepsi and Diet
Pepsi caps. Maich the symbols

on the liners with those on the
official Break the Bank game card.
Match up al! symbols in any one
row across, and you qualify for
the cash prize printed beside
that row, Complete the entry
form, correctly answer the

or §1,000be sent by registered mail.

fatal,

Transport Minister Otto
Lang wrote Gray last fall
saying a review of accident
statistics had not turned up
any evidence of fatalities in
fires due to a design defect in
Pinto gas tanks.

But Gray said methods of
gathering information on
such accidents are
inadequate because only
British . Columbia and
Saskatchewan police reports
of. accidents are detailed
eriough to identify a problem
by car model.

LACKS POWER

Gray said that even if a
problem is identified, the
government has no power
under the Motor Vehicle
Safety Act to order a recall.
The act makes it an offence
for a manufacturer not to
notify owners of a safety
defect.

But in cases where the
automaker disagrees with
the government that a
problem {s safety related,
the government must take
the manufacturer to court.

HOW TO TRY FOR ONEOF TEN TRIPS
FORTWOTO FABULOUS MONTE CARLO

— Collect any 10 contest liners. Mail, together
with your name, address, ..

and telephone number to; ., .
Monte Carlo Sweepstakes,
P.O. Box 2162, ae
Toronto, Ontario M5W 1H12"
Enter as often as you wishBut mail each entry sep-—-
arately. 10 trips will be worl by selected entrants

after correctly answering 2{skill-testing question.

Each prize will consist of return air fare for two to
Monte Carlo, first class hotel accommodation for

14 nights, and $2,000 in spending money.

~

THE HERALD, Wednesday, May 10, 1978, PAGF 5

Anti-abortion
doctors backed

TORONTO (CP)
Doctors who object morally
to forms of treatment such
as abortion should not be
obligated to advise patients
of other forms of assistance,
the general council of the
Ontario Medical Association
(OMA) decided at its annual
meeting Monday.

Last year, the Canadian
Medical Association (CMA)
revised its code of ethics to
say that when a doctor's
“personal morality prevents
him from recommending
some form of therapy, he
will so acquaint his patient
and will advise his patient of
other forms of assistance."

The OMA council agread to

recommend to the national
association that it should be
enough for a doctor who .
objects on moral or religious |
grounds to advise the patient
of the objection, without -
referring the patient’
elsewhere.

Dr. John Forster said the ,
national organization's code
of ethics does not specify ©
abortion but was obviously °
intended to apply to it.

He said that to some ¢
doctors, the section means
they are being asked to refer
patients to a murderer. :

He said the issue probably -
would be discussed at the -
CMA’s annua] meeting next -
month in Winnipeg. :

The Lazelle Medica! Centre

is pleased to

DR. CATHERINE
| REILKOFF

will be rejoining the
medical staff Monday,
May 23, 1978

your prize.

.

Look for liners showing 25¢ under
specially marked caps of 10 fl. oz./300 ml
bottles of Pepsi and Diet Pepsi. Complete
the official entry form, correctly answer

the skill-testing question, and, together with
the cash liner, present the form to your
retailer of Pepsi-Cola who will award you

LOQK FOR FULL CONTEST DETAILS WHERE YOU BUY PEPS! OR DIET PEPSH

*Pepsi" and "PepsiGola” are registered trademarks of PepsiCo. Inc

on |

SUBTRACT: 1940
DIVIDE BY: 5
ADD: 210

SIGNATURE ......
NAME

STREET

ary

eo ee

POSTAL CODE

AND DIET PEPSI

OFFICIAL ENTRY FORM-Please Print Carelully

BREAK THE BANK WITH PEPSI-COLA

Correctly answer this skill-testing question:
MULTIPLY: 2000 by 6

By signing below, | dectare that | have understood, comp!
th and will abide by all the rules of this contest and have
answered this skill-tesling question by myself, without any
mechanical or other assistance.

TELEPHONE NO
PP ee ee ee ee ee

My answer is; __
led

AGE
APT
PROVINCE

I
I
I
b
1
i
1
I
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
ud