The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, August 25, 1999, Page 4, Image 4
28 injured Taiwan in plane crash
by Christopher Bodeen
Associated Press
Tmpb, TAIWAN — A domestic passenger jet caught fire
Tuesday after an apparent explosion during its landing in
east-central Taiwan, injuring 28 of the % people aboard, of
ficials said. There were no fatalities.
The fiery landing of the UNI Airlines MD-90 was the
second accident involving a Taiwanese airline in just three
days. In both cases, the planes were manufactured by Mc
Donnell Douglas Corp.
As the jet touched down in Tuesday’s accident, there
was a loud noise from the front of the cabin, and thick black
smoke poured from one of the overhead luggage compart
ments, said the airline’s vice president, Si Chung-ching.
“There was an explosion above us, and many people had
bums on their faces or holes in their clothes,” a passenger
told the TVBS cable station.
Television footage showed black smoke belching from
the plane’s fuselage as firefighters struggled to douse the
flames.
Si said the passengers were quickly evacuated. It took
about 3t) minutes to put out the fire.
Many passengers suffered facial bums. The two most
seriously hurt, a man and a woman, were burned on over 60
percent of their bodies, Si said.
Many others were treated and released from Tse-Chi
Hospital, a doctor said.
Following an initial investigation, Transport Minister
Lin Fong-cheng said there apparently was some type of an
explosion in the plane.
Authorities have yet to determine what caused it.
Eyewitnesses reported a ball of fire on the runway after
the jet landed at the Hualien Airport, 108 miles southeast
of Taipei, following a 25-minute flight from the capital.
Tuesday’s incident comes two days after a China Air
lines MD-11 jetliner flying out of Bangkok burst into flames
as the pilot tried to land in Hong Kong.
Two people aboard the Taiwanese carrier were killed,
and more than 200 were injured.
In Taipei today, a Taiwanese aviation regulator offered
an explanation for that crash. He said the pilot tried to land
in stormy crosswinds that exceeded his safety threshold af
ter getting faulty information from his co-pilot.
The co-pilot, Liu Cheng-hsi, had told the pilot, Gerar
do Lettich, that the winds were blowing at 26 miles per hour,
but in fact they were blowing at 30 miles per hour, said
Chang Kuo-cheng, the deputy director general of Taiwan’s
Civil Aeronautics Administration.
“Whether Liu Chen-hsi calculated wrong, or misread,
or whether there was poor communication with the pilot
—that can be immediately discovered once the Hong Kong
authorities analyze the cockpit voice recorder,” Chang said.
Of the 211 injured people, 48 were still in the hospital
this afternoon, including one in critical condition and
three in serious condition, a Hong Kong government spokes
woman said.
U.S. safety investigators arrived in Hong Kong today.
Representatives from the U.S. National Transportation Safe
ty Board, aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co. and jet engine
manufacturer Pratt & Whitney will assist the Hong Kong
and Taiwanese teams already in place.
The jet, an MD-11, was also made by McDonnell Dou
glas, which has been purchased by Seattle-based Boeing.
Second Million Youth
March denied permit
by Timothy Williams
Associated Press "
New York — The leader of a rally that
included inflammatory speeches and a
brawl with police officers a year ago has
accused the city of racism for rejecting a
request for another march.
Police Commissioner Howard Safir
said Monday he will not issue a permit for
a second Million Youth March, proposed
for next month in Harlem. The dispute
likely will go to federal court — as it did
last year.
Safir’s decision was denounced by Khal
lid Abdul Muhammad, the main oiganiz
er of the march which, the city said at
tracted 6,000 people last year. Muhammad
said it brought in 300,000 people, and he
vowed to march Sept. 4 despite the stand
by city officials.
“We want to make it clear here today
that no devil, racist, cantankerous, consti
pated cracker like Mayor Giuliani can stop”
the march, Muhammad said. Giuliani’s of
fice had no comment. Muhammad made
his comments at a news conference out
side City Hall during which organizers de
nounced Jews and whites.
The march took place wily after fed
eral courts overruled the city. .
The four-hour event featured dozens
of inflammatory speeches denouncing
whites, Jews, black elected officials and
police. As the rally wound down, Muham
mad’s closing speech ran beyond the al
lotted time and police officers in riot gear
moved toward the stage while police he
licopters flew low over the crowd. Muham
mad exhorted the crowd to beat or shoot
officers if they were attached, and some
members of the audience threw barricades,
chairs and bottles. Twenty-eight people
were injured.
Cursing canoeist sentenced
to community service
by John Flesher
Associated Press
Stamhsh, Michigan — Being nationally
known as the potty-mouthed canoeist has
made Timothy Boomer think twice about
what he yells in public.
“Tve learned my lesson,” Boomer said
Monday after a judge sentenced him to four
days of community service and a choice of
three days in jail or a $75 fine for cursing
near children.
“Every day I’m teased, every day I’m
harassed, every day someone can’t walk by
without saying, ‘Watch your mouth,
here’s the cursing canoeist.’ I’ll hear it every
day for the rest of my life,” he said.
The 25-year-old computer programmer
admitted he let loose with a stream of a pro
fanities after tumbling out of a canoe last
summer on the Rifle River.
A nearby couple with two young chil
dren said they were so horrified by his blue
streak, they paddled swiftly away.
The sheriff’s deputy who ticketed
Boomer said he could hear the shouts from
a quarter-mile away.
A jury convicted Boomer in June of vi
olating Michigan’s 102-year-old ban on us
ing profanity in the presence of children.
The American Civil Liberties Union,
which is representing Boomer, contends his
freedom of speech was violated.
Prosecutors argued the outburst wasn’t
protected because it conveyed no specific
thought.
District Judge Allen Yenior, who or
dered Boomer to work in a child-care pro
gram as community service, put the sentence
on hold while the conviction is appealed.
“I know I am being punished by a law
that not one person in a million in Ameri
ca ever thought existed,” Boomer said.
When asked whether he has cleaned up
his language since the incident, Boomer
replied, “1 sure have.” ,
Study:
11 million
addicted
to Internet
by Jeff Donn
Associated Press
Boston—The largest study ever of In
temet users has found that almost 6 per
cent, or more than 11 million users, suf
fer from some form of addiction to the
World Wide Web.
The findings, which were released
Sunday at the annual meeting of the
American Psychological Association, ap
pear likely to bolster the expanding ac
ceptance of compulsive Internet use as
a real psychological disorder.
“Marriages are being disrupted, kids
are getting into trouble, people are com
mitting illegal acts, people are spending
too much money. As someone who treats
patients, I see it, ” said David Greenfield,
a therapist and researcher who conduct
ed the study.
lumoeny i oung, a pioneer in me
new field of research, said the study is so
broad that it “adds a layer of legitimacy
to the concern that Internet addiction is
real.”
However, the 6 percent figure is low
er than some earlier estimates of 10 per
cent or more that stemmed laigely from
research on college students.
Greenfield, who is a psychologist
in West Hartford, Conn., carried out the
study jointly with ABC News. He col
lected 17,251 responses to an Internet
use questionnaire distributed and returned
through the Web site ABCNEWS.com.
He adapted his questions from a wide
ly used set of criteria for gambling ad
diction. For example, the questionnaires
asked if participants had used the Inter
net to escape from their problems,
tried unsuccessfully to cut back, or found
themselves preoccupied with the Inter
net when they were no longer at the com
puter.
If participants answered “yes’ ’ to at
ADDICTION SEE PAGE 5
Briefs
■ Federal Reserve
raises interest rates
Washington (AP)—The Federal Re
serve raised interest rates Tuesday by a
quarter point in an effort to cool the
economy by making it more expensive
for Americans to borrow.
The Fed said it was increasing its tar
get for the federal funds rates, the interest
that banks charge each other on overnight
loans, to 5.25 percent from 5 percent.
It marked the second time this sum
mer that the Fed has raised this rate. It
boosted the funds rate from 4.75 percent
to 5 percent on June 30, the first increase
in two years.
Wall Street, which had anticipated the
increase, appeared to shrug off the news.
The Dow Jones average of 30 blue-chip
industrial stocks rose slightly, and the
yield on long-term bonds held steady.
To drive home its efforts to fight in
flation, the Fed also raised the discount
rate, the interest that it chaiges for direct
loans to banks, by a quarter of a point, as
well. The discount rate was increased to
4.75 percent, the first increase in the dis
count since Feb. 1,1995.
■ Gun buyback
program a success
Washmgton (AP) — So successful was a
District of Columbia program to buy guns
from citizens for $100 each that city offi
cials have added $100,000 to use for the pur
chases.
By day’s end Monday, 1,164guns were
turned in for payment, police said.
In just the first half-hour, people hand
ed over around 400 guns at the seven police
district offices, assistant chief Terry Gainer
said. That’s half as many firearms as normally
are confiscated in the district in a year, he
said.
Shortly after the program began, Gain
er said, police decided to spend an extra
$25,000 for what was to have been a $100,000
program. By Monday night, they had de
cided to add another $100,000 to the pro
gram. '
People who -cmed in guns did not have
to give police officers their names and were
granted amnesty from the city’s law barring
people from owning handguns or other ille
gal firearms, police spokesman Sgt. Joe Gen
tile said.
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