FAA called slow to make copters safe
WASHINGTON : A federal safety panel says aviation officials are not acting quickly enough on proposals to prevent crashes of emergency medical helicopters. The five-member National Transportation Safety Board urged the Federal Aviation Administration in January 2006 to take steps to improve the safety of emergency medical helicopter flights. The safety board wanted the FAA to improve procedures for medical helicopters, evaluate flight risks, require onboard crash-warning technology and set policies for securing weather updates. At a meeting yesterday, the board acknowledged that the FAA is working on the proposals, but not quickly enough. Over the past 11 months, nine emergency medical helicopters have crashed, killing 35 people.
White supremacist plot clumsy, officials say
BELLS, Tenn.: Two white supremacists charged with plotting to behead blacks across the country and assassinate Barack Obama while wearing white top hats and tuxes probably were too disorganized to carry out the plot nd their planning was riddled with blunders, authorities said. Paul Schlesselman, 18, of Helena-West Helena, Ark., and Daniel Cowart, 20, of Bells are accused of dreaming up the plan. While authorities say they had guns capable of creating carnage, documents show they never got close to getting off the ground. Among the blunders: They drew attention to themselves by etching swastikas on a car with sidewalk chalk, only knew each other for a month, couldn't pull off a house robbery and were exposed to authorities by a friend.
Quake kills dozens in southwest Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN
A strong earthquake struck parts of southwestern Pakistan early today, killing at least 80 people, officials said. The quake struck just after 4 a.m. in Balochistan, an impoverished province bordering Afghanistan. It had a preliminary magnitude of 6.4, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. A local mayor said many houses were damaged. The quake was centered about 400 miles southwest of the capital, Islamabad. Pakistan is prone to violent seismic upheavals.
Iraqi sentenced to hang in U.S. soldiers' deaths
