Hangar

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - A US Airways commuter plane corkscrewed into the earth outside a hangar at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport yesterday, exploding in a fireball that killed all 21 aboard. The plane, Flight 5481, bound for Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C., was full with 19 passengers and two pilots aboard when it crashed at 8:49 a.m., missing by less than 50 yards a US Airways maintenance base with hundreds of workers. Two Baltimore-area residents were among the passengers: Mark Congdon, a Glenwood resident and the father of four children and Paul Stidham, 46, of Dayton, who was traveling on business for his employer, W.R. Grace of Columbia.

First, a rare plant got in Tipton Airport's way. Then, a floodplain blocked its plans. Now, the airport's engineers say they have found a way to build long-sought, garage-like hangars on the former Army airfield. The site should look familiar to pilots watching the T-hangar developments. It's the same field that airport board members first flagged as ideal for the hangars more than two years ago - the one they were ready to write off because of the endangered, spiky-thistled plant sprouting from a ditch in the middle of it. The new plan is to split the field, saving part as a sanctuary for the plant while building on the rest.

First, a rare plant got in Tipton Airport's way. Then, a floodplain blocked its plans. Now, the airport's engineers say they have found a way to build long-sought, garage-like hangars on the former Army airfield. The site should look familiar to pilots watching the T-hangar developments. It's the same field that airport board members first flagged as ideal for the hangars more than two years ago - the one they were ready to write off because of the endangered, spiky-thistled plant sprouting from a ditch in the middle of it. The new plan is to split the field, saving part as a sanctuary for the plant while building on the rest.

Acting on aviation experts' recommendations, the commissioners directed Carroll's economic development team yesterday to improve and market seven corporate hangars at the county airport outside Westminster. "These hangars have been sitting there way too long," said Commissioner Donald I. Dell. "We should be advertising them." The hangars are among recent improvements - including a longer runway and a fuel station - completed in hopes of making Carroll County Regional Airport a favored stop for pilots flying over the mid-Atlantic region.

To bolster business at the county's airport outside Westminster, a panel of experts recommended yesterday that the commissioners customize Carroll's corporate hangars and have the airport manager on site full time. "If you have a $38 million airplane, you want to find a place that has everything - a hangar that's heated, secure, has lights," said Jon Buck of the Airplane Owners and Pilots Association. "The term we use is turnkey. It means everything is ready to go and doesn't need anything else."

IS A species endangered if it never makes the official government protection list? If a plant is so rare that it isn't even expected to be found, should it be considered endangered? These are the kinds of questions posed in the unexpected discovery of a solitary "many-headed rush," formally Juncus polycephalus, in a drainage ditch near Tipton Airport in Anne Arundel County. The knee-high, thistle-balled plant was found during an ecological survey of the airport site, on the old Fort Meade complex.

Carroll commissioners learned yesterday that they will have to rebid and limit the scope of a long-awaited project that would extend water lines to Maple Crest, a 30-year-old subdivision south of Westminster that has suffered water shortages for several years. To qualify for state funds for the $320,332 project, the commissioners were also told that the county would have to scrap plans to extend water lines to three streets in the neighborhood and focus its efforts on Wayne Avenue and Woodland Drive, which have the most severe water problems.

Carroll commissioners voted unanimously yesterday to apply for a state grant that would offset the cost of extending water lines to Maple Crest, a 30-year-old subdivision south of Westminster that has suffered shortages for several years. "I think we should pursue the grant and then tackle this issue if and when we get the grant," said Commissioner Donald I. Dell. His colleagues, Commissioners Julia Walsh Gouge and Robin Bartlett Frazier, agreed. Both said it would be foolish to pass up the chance to receive state money for the project.

Ending a legal battle, the Carroll County commissioners have agreed to drop their lawsuit against a Pennsylvania company hired to develop and sublet seven corporate hangars at Carroll County Regional Airport in exchange for possession of the $3.3 million project. "With the help of a mediator, we have settled the court case," Commissioner Robin Bartlett Frazier said yesterday at the board's quarterly breakfast meeting with the executive board of Carroll County Chamber of Commerce. "We hope by this time next year, we'll have a successful operation."

Hoping to bolster business at the county's airport outside Westminster, Commissioners Donald I. Dell and Robin Bartlett Frazier will visit the municipal airport in Leesburg, Va., this morning to learn what it takes to successfully manage corporate hangars. The meeting was arranged by Edward Primoff, a commercial pilot and certified flight instructor who lives in Woodbine. Primoff will chauffeur Dell and Frazier to Leesburg about 9 a.m. Gary Horst, enterprise and recreation services director who also oversees the county airport, is expected to go, too. Over the years, the county has made several improvements - including seven corporate hangars - to Carroll County Regional Airport along Route 97 north of Westminster in hopes of making it a favored stop for pilots flying over the mid-Atlantic states.