Malfunction

A malfunction in an auxiliary power unit on the tail of an arriving Southwest Airlines passenger jet was blamed for a brief scare at Baltimore-Washington International Airport last night. Jonathan Dean, a spokesman for the Maryland Aviation Administration, said the flight from Indianapolis was taxiing to the gate when the problem occurred about 6:15 p.m. Fire and rescue crews answering the call found no fire, he said. Southwest spokeswoman Edna Ruano said the crew of the Boeing 737 was alerted that an air-traffic controller had spotted an external fire.

A report of smoke coming from the roof forced a brief evacuation of Southampton Middle School in Bel Air Tuesday. Around 2:30 p.m., the Harford County 911 Center dispatched fire equipment to the school in the 1200 block of Moores Mill Road to investigate a report of smoke coming from the roof. The Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company responded; however, the first emergency responder to the scene reported no fire or smoke evident upon arrival, according to monitored broadcasts. Meanwhile, students and staff were evacuated and stood outside in the warm afternoon sunshine, while a fire crew climbed around on the roof but found nothing.

State lottery officials said last night they would honor two sets of winning Lotto numbers after a malfunction forced them to hold a redrawing. "The machine didn't have the correct number of balls in it. We're going to honor two numbers," said Jimmy White, communications director for the Maryland lottery. Moments before the regular on-air 11:10 drawing for the $3.5 million jackpot, officials realized that a few of the 49 balls in the drawing machine had dropped out, White said. Officials tried to retrieve all the balls in time for the drawing but realized soon after that there were only 47 in the drum.

A portable classroom at the rear of Forest Lakes Elementary School was badly damaged when a malfunctioning heating unit started a fire early Thursday morning, according to Harford County fire officials. The blaze at the school, in the 100 block of Osborne Parkway in the Forest Hill area north of Bel Air, was brought under control about 2 a.m. by several dozen Bel Air and Fallston volunteer firefighters, the fire department reported. Damages are estimated at $15,000. No changes to the school's schedule on Thursday were reported.

The plan to move into the new $6.1 million addition at the Carroll County Detention Center on Saturday was called off when corrections officials discovered a malfunction in a pump circulating hot water from a boiler."

WASHINGTON - Government inspectors went to the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant this week to examine a cooling system malfunction that caused the Unit 2 nuclear reactor to shut down briefly Jan. 23. But plant and Calvert County officials said there was no cause for alarm in the shutdown and the inspection, which will last for a week, is routine. "There was no threat to surrounding areas, and there were no public health and safety consequences," said Neil A. Sheehan, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which dispatched inspectors to the Lusby plant Tuesday.

A portable classroom at the rear of Forest Lakes Elementary School was badly damaged when a malfunctioning heating unit started a fire early Thursday morning, according to Harford County fire officials. The blaze at the school, in the 100 block of Osborne Parkway in the Forest Hill area north of Bel Air, was brought under control about 2 a.m. by several dozen Bel Air and Fallston volunteer firefighters, the fire department reported. Damages are estimated at $15,000. No changes to the school's schedule on Thursday were reported.

A Baltimore man was killed Monday when his truck struck a guardrail and he was ejected on Interstate 70 in Frederick County, state police said. Elmer Smith, 41, of the 4000 block of Walther Ave. was headed west on I-70, near Route 75 in New Market, about 11 a.m. when his Peterbilt truck struck the guardrail. Investigators believe his front, driver-side tire malfunctioned, causing him to lose control. Police said he was not wearing a seat belt. Smith was taken to Frederick Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

WASHINGTON - -Five days before last week's deadly Red Line accident, a Metro crew replaced a key piece of equipment designed to prevent rail crashes, but the circuitry malfunctioned and no one in the subway system detected the problem, investigators and transit officials said yesterday. The findings raise new questions about whether Metro officials should have discovered the hazard before one train rammed into another June 22, killing nine and injuring 80. It also puts a spotlight on the Metro's maintenance crews and the design of a highly automated subway system that is supposed to be fail-safe.

Because of a telephone system malfunction, our represtatives in Advertising and Circulation were unable to take calls periodically yesterday. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.Pub Date: 7/16/97

Operators of the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant in Southern Maryland have shut down one of the two reactors there because a control rod unexpectedly dropped into the reactor core, causing a reduction in power generation, a plant spokesman said Monday. The incident happened Sunday afternoon, prompting the plant's staff to shut the reactor down to find and fix the cause of the malfunction, according to Kory Raftery, spokesman for Constellation Energy Nuclear Group. Control rods are used in a reactor to limit the fission taking place among the reactor's enriched-uranium fuel rods.

A Baltimore man was killed Monday when his truck struck a guardrail and he was ejected on Interstate 70 in Frederick County, state police said. Elmer Smith, 41, of the 4000 block of Walther Ave. was headed west on I-70, near Route 75 in New Market, about 11 a.m. when his Peterbilt truck struck the guardrail. Investigators believe his front, driver-side tire malfunctioned, causing him to lose control. Police said he was not wearing a seat belt. Smith was taken to Frederick Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

A motorcyclist died when he struck the back of a pickup truck after losing control of the bike in a Jessup parking lot Tuesday, Howard County police said. Police said a mechanical malfunction possibly caused the motorcyclist to lose control, causing him to hit a curb and strike the back of a pickup truck at about 2 p.m. in the parking lot of Frank's Seafood in the 7900 block of Oceano Avenue. The driver of the KTM SMR 525 Enduro was pronounced dead at the scene and has not been identified because of pending family notification.

The problem: On rainy days, a railroad signal malfunctions in the Canton Industrial Area. The back story: Patience is a virtue, but it's hard to ask drivers to be understanding when something is broken. Spencer Simpson Jr. of Hamilton noticed that on particularly wet days, the railroad signal on O'Donnell Street near Oldham Street by the Canton Industrial Area will sometimes start flashing, even when there is no train coming. Drivers obey the signal initially, but eventually disregard it when no locomotive approaches.

WASHINGTON - -Five days before last week's deadly Red Line accident, a Metro crew replaced a key piece of equipment designed to prevent rail crashes, but the circuitry malfunctioned and no one in the subway system detected the problem, investigators and transit officials said yesterday. The findings raise new questions about whether Metro officials should have discovered the hazard before one train rammed into another June 22, killing nine and injuring 80. It also puts a spotlight on the Metro's maintenance crews and the design of a highly automated subway system that is supposed to be fail-safe.

The new science data computer that astronauts installed on the Hubble Space Telescope five weeks ago has malfunctioned. The science instruments that rely on the computer to transfer Hubble's discoveries to the ground have been shut down and placed in "safe" mode, NASA officials said Thursday. The space agency has named an anomaly review board to study the problem. The faulty computer, the Science Instrument Command and Data Handler, is not really new. It was a spare built before the Hubble was launched in 1990.

An electrical malfunction and small fire at Harford Mall in Bel Air have caused the temporary closing of 14 stores, a mall official said today.Nancy Brown, a mall marketing official, said the malfunction cut electricity to the 14 stores and caused minor smoke and water damage to a few of them.The most damage from the malfunction, which occurred about 5 p.m. yesterday, was in Carpet Fair, she said.The 550,000-square-foot, 65-store mall at U.S. 1 and Md. 24, Harford County's largest, was evacuated and closed after the incident.

A malfunctioning sprinkler system flooded the Charles Center Metro stop last night, shutting the station for about an hour and forcing riders to use other stations.Frank Fulton, a Mass Transit Administration spokesman, said the sprinkler system activated at 6: 25 p.m. and flooded the underground station at Charles and Baltimore streets, dousing some riders and spreading at least an inch of water on the passenger platform.He said MTA police officers were posted at the entrance and riders were directed to other stations.

The Pentagon said yesterday that it will try to shoot down a malfunctioning satellite before it has a chance to return to Earth and spread hazardous materials over populated areas. The Defense Department will attempt to blast the U.S.-made satellite with a missile launched from a Navy ship in coming weeks before the satellite re-enters Earth's atmosphere, officials said.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican who is a favorite of social conservatives, announced yesterday that he was taking the first step toward a 2008 White House run by setting up an exploratory committee. "I have decided, after much prayerful consideration, to consider a bid for the Republican nomination for the presidency," he said in a statement. "There is a real need in our country to rebuild the family and renew our culture, and there is a need for genuine conservatism and real compassion in the national discussion."