Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 2, 1988)
(i Friday, September 2, 1988/The Battalion/Page 9 Tire-protection measure jcStill absent from airlines ]«!' I ■ransT Tharf Mail ■ WASHINGTON (AP) - Efforts to ■rotect airline passengers from rap idly spreading post-crash Fires, such as the one that swept through the Delta Air Lines jet in Texas, remain stalled after more than a decade of l ustrating research. I Four years ago, the Federal Avi ation Administration was on the :|erge of requiring airliners to use a 'special fuel additive that its support ers said would stop aircraft fuel va pors from igniting in a crash. 1 Although the anti-misting addi- ve suppressed the spread of flames n repeated static tests, a highly pub- cized test using a remote-controlled loeing 720 in the California desert [died miserably in November 1984, s the deliberately crashed jet was |ngulfed in a ball of flames. | The failed test came only weeks efore a regulation requiring the ad- litive was to have been announced, ilthough the airlines had argued the idditive’s value was questionable and here were indications it could inter- ere with engine performance. Eleven months later, after the [overnmem and chemical industry pent millions of dollars on the re- 1,m I tc mr. ,smil ielr'fl it fiF ins £ r art: I 9-vj h. I lit! I rid. I Pat hfd m in R rd i A .oil & Regulators: Samurai safe despite talk WASHINGTON (AP) — Crit ics of the Suzuki Samurai have failed to demonstrate the sport- utility vehicle has an excessive tendency to roll over, federal reg ulators said Thursday in denying a recall petition. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration did, how ever, begin proceedings to estab lish standards to protect drivers of all light-duty vehicles against unreasonable risk of rollover. Consumers Union, the pub lisher of Consumer Reports mag azine, called for a ban on the Sa murai in June, saying the vehicle literally trips over its own feet. More than 150,000 of the vehi cles have been sold in the United States. NHTSA rejected a petition by the Center for Auto Safety, a public-interest group often at odds with the auto industry and its regulators, asking for a safety recall of the Samurai. “The rollover crash involve ment of the Samurai appears to be within the range of most other light-utility vehicles,” the agency said. “Rollovers where they have occurred often appear to have been influenced by adverse driver and environmental factors, such as high-risk driving maneu vers, drinking, low surrounding light and lack of driver familiarity (with) either the vehicle or the road.” The Samurai’s rollover rate, based on a study of 1986- and 1987-model vehicles, was six per 100,000 vehicles, NHTSA said. The Ford Bronco II, by compari son, had a rollover rate of about 19 per 100,000 vehicles. The General Motors S-10 Blazer and S-15 Jimmy had a rollover rate identical to the Samurai’s. American Suzuki Motor Gorp., the Japanese automaker’s U.S. subsidiary, said it claimed victory in its defense of the 4-wheel-drive Suzuki Samurai. A Suzuki official in Brea, Calif., said NHTSA’s decision supports claims the Samurai is safe and should put to rest the in accurate and misleading attacks on the vehicle. He said he was pleased theaccusations about the Samurai made by consumer groups did not color NHTSA’s judgement on the matter. search, the FAA abandoned the fuel additive idea because the agency said “the concept is not practical for day- to-day airline operation in the fore seeable future.” According to government Figures, about 40 percent of the fatalities in potentially survivable airline crashes are caused by flames or the inhala tion of toxic smoke. Most of the 13 people killed in the crash Wednesday of Delta Flight 1141 as it was taking off from the Dallas-Fort Worth airport were be lieved to have died from the flames and smoke, according to investiga tors. It is believed that many more might have perished if the plane had not ripped apart in three places, al lowing passengers to more rapidly escape. Concern about the danger of fire after crashes has been raised by avi ation safety experts for years. Re search into ways to reduce the threat gained momentum in 1977 after the Fiery collision of two Boeing 747 jumbo jets on a fog-bound runway at Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, killed 553 people. For six years after the Tenerife crash the FAA’s focus was on devel oping a polymer called Avgard, which was supposed to prevent the misting of jet fuel and thereby pre vent the fireball that often engulfs a jet w'hen fuel lines are severed in a crash. The F'AA estimated at one point that as many as 135 lives a year could be saved if the polymer were used as a fuel additive by all commercial air lines. A British company, Imperial Chemical Industries, invested more than $15 million in developing Av gard prior to the ill-fated test in the California desert in 1984. When fuel lines are severed or fuel tanks rupture in a crash, jet fuel often turns into a mist of small drop lets that can readily explode into a Fireball when exposed to heat or flames. The polymer was hoped to prevent the misting. “There hasn’t been any research done by the FAA on (the anti-mist polymer) since the crash test in 1984,” agency spokesman JoAnn Sloane said. Congress to hear bank’s new request to purchase S&L SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — First Nationwide Bank has gone to Con gress in its battle to stay in the bid ding for American Savings and Loan in Stockton, the the nation’s largest insolvent thrift with $31 billion in as sets. First Nationwide claimed on Wednesday it has been “frozen out” of the bidding process. For the past Five months, the Fed eral Home Loan Bank Board has been holding negotiations with the Robert M. Bass Group of Fort Worth to take over the savings and loan that has 185 branches in Cali fornia. First Nationwide President Robert Lackovic said new reports have indi cated the Bass Group is offering less for American than his bank and its parent, Ford Motor Co., had pro posed in earlier bids. “I don’t mind being outbid fair and square,” he said. “But it appears from the press that the nature of the (Bass) bid has changed. Why are they allowed to keep honing their bid when we weren’t?” Lackovic said Ford asked to be re admitted into bidding but was turned down. “Exclusive negotiations are un precedented and should never have been granted,” he said. Lackovic said he made his feelings known to House Banking Commit tee Chairman Fernand St. Germain, D-R.L, and on Monday St. Germain wrote a letter to bank board chair man Danny Wall. The San Francisco Chronicle said in Thursday’s editions that it had ob tained a copy of the letter that called on Wall to “maintain maximum pub lic confidence.” “It is essential that there be no ap pearance of exclusion or suggestion that any alternative w'as overlooked,” St. Germain wrote. St. Germain said he was con cerned that “the exclusive treatment accorded the Bass Group has ex tended over such a long period of time and appears to have prevented the FHLBB from giving serious con sideration to possible alternatives.” Bus officials discuss problems of disabled DENVER (AP) — Greyhound Bus ofFicials have met with advocates for the handicapped here and agreed to take steps to make their buses more accessible to people in wheelchairs. “The important thing is to have a chance to exchange ideas and dis cuss these issues,” George Gravley, Greyhound public relations director, said. Wade Blank, co-director of a Denver Atlantis Community, was cool in his assessment of Wednes day’s meeting, but was pleased that talks have begun. “I don’t think we have anything to take back to our membership chap ters that will defuse the issue,” he said. Handicapped activists in 1985 be gan protesting Greyhound buses’ lack of accessibility to the disabled, claiming discrimination. Hey, OFF CAMPUS STUDENTS! Come to the OCA Play Day Saturday, Sept. 3 a* Hensel Park You can play SOFTBALL, VOLLEYBALL, FOOTBALL, TOSS A FRISBEE, MEET FRIENDS, EAT FREE FOOD, and get fired up for the game against LSU! Sponsored by the Off Campus Aggies PI KAPPA ALPHA ‘Take a WaCkion the ^ ) Side Fall Aug 31 The WILD SIDE Party* C rl Sept 2 Volleyball sPIKEfest* Sept 3 Bus Trip to Delta Downs Sept 5 The James Dean Party* lOQQ Sept 7 Smoker at Carney’s Pub JLeFOO Sept 9 Swamp Party* Sept 10 Pool/Poker Party* For Fall Rush Information: Sept 12 Date Party* | 11 Sam Note 764-9155 James Martingano 696-1704 * at the Pike House 41 David Mooney 696-0081 James Lancaster 696-8989 WANTED: OFFICIALS FLAG FOOTBALL 16" SOFTBALL ORIENTATION MEETING: Monday, September 5, 6 PM, 267 G. Rollie White INNERTUBE WATER BASKETBALL ORIENTATION MEETING: Monday, September 19, 6 PM, Room 167 Read Bldg. FOR MORE INFORMATION STOP BY THE INTRAMURAL-RECREA TIONAL SPORTS OFFICE, 159 READ BUILDING OR CALL 845- 7826. Gravley said Greyhound manage ment immediately would explore three areas: • The Brownsville (Texas) Tran sit Authority has applied for a $250,000 grant for design and con struction of a demonstration bus equipped with a wheelchair lift. • Because of safety concerns about acid spillage. Greyhound won’t carry wheelchairs powered by dry-cell batteries. However, Gravley said Greyhound will look into the possibility of allowing the chairs on its buses. • Greyhound also will re-evaluate its Helping Hands program, which enables able-bodied companions of handicapped riders to travel free. The disabled have called the pro gram unfair because proof of the handicapped person’s disability must be provided. COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS The Foods Great but don’t drink the water 907 C Harvey Rd. (Woodstone Shopping Center) 764-JUAN V S NOW OPEN ►Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner •Delicious Frozen Margaritas •Fantastic Fajita’s •Happy Hour 4-7, 7days a week •Free Delivery with minimum $7. purchase from 11 a.m. till 11 p.m. •We Cater tail gate parties 8a.m.-11 p.m. Sun.-Wed. 8 a.m.-2 a.m. Th, Fr., Sat. Bring this ad in for a free softdrink w/purchase. A NEW FRATERNITY PHI KAPPA THETA Bikini Contest/Party Sat., Sept. 3, 7:00 p.m.-Sharp! Walden Pond Clubhouse Informational Meeting Mon., Sept 5 MSC 206 Speakers: National President National Trustee National Expansion Director Be a Founding Father RUSH OK©! S W Pkwy Walden Pond Clubhouse Welborn TAMU Contact: James 696-8283 Steve 696-8343