The Battalion
STATE & LOCAL
Monday, February 19,1990
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PUTNAM (AP) — Both en
gines were running and flight
controls apparently were in order
when an airplane carrying Five
business associates of gubernato
rial candidate Clayton Williams
plowed nose-first into the
ground, killing everyone aboard,
an investigator said Thursday.
Gene Roth, investigator for the
National Transportation Safety
Board, refused to speculate
Thursday on the cause of the
crash of a twin turboprop Mitsu
bishi MU-2 Wednesday morning
in a field south of Putnam.
Roth, four investigators from
the Federal Aviation Administra
tion and three engineers from
Mitsubishi examined the wreck
age Thursday and determined
that the plane’s engines and con
trols seemed to be working at the
time of the crash.
The 9-year-old plane, owned
by one of Williams’ companies,
had no record of mechanical
problems, Roth said.
Wreckage was still in the field
Thursday. Roth said it will be
gathered and hauled to a salvage
yard in Lancaster within a few
days. The plane was not equipped
with a cockpit voice recorder or
flight data recorder.
Killed were Jamie Winkel, 45,
chief executive officer of Clayton
W. Williams Jr. Companies;
Randy M. Kidwell, 37, vice presi
dent for business development
for Advanced Telecommunica
tions Corp.; Robert Smith, 62,
president of R.R. Smith Consult
ing; Aaron Giebel, 63, president
of Aaron Giebel Petroleum Ltd.;
and Kenneth Mardis, 51, pilot
with Williams Aviation.
The plane was carrying the five
men from Midland to Dallas.
A memorial service for the five
mionyda victims was scheduled for 1 1 a.m.
Friday at First Baptist Church of
Midland. Williams was expected
to deliver the eulogy.
Propane tanker derails
Light rams, flames keep residents homeless
EMHOUSE (AP) — A fiaming propane tanker and
light rains kept residents and firefighters at bay Sun
day, more than a day after a freight train carrying haz
ardous chemicals derailed, causing an explosion and
forcing the evacuation of several families.
Firefighters decided Saturday to allow the liquid pro
pane tanker to extinguish itself, fearing that dousing
unseen hot spots in the tanker could cause additional
explosions, Capt. Darrell Stevenson of the Corsicana
Fire Department said.
“It burned all night and it’s still burning now,” he
said.
Firefighters under the supervision of the Texas Rail
road Commission pumped water into the burning
tanker Sunday, forcing the propane to rise and burn
off.
Stevenson said officials were unsure how much pro-
ane was left in the tanker or how long the fire would
urn.
Stevenson compared the burning tanker to an oil
burning lamp, that will continue to flame until all the
propane gas is burned off.
Three families living closest to the derailment hadn’t
been allowed to return to their homes Sunday.
A spilled car of sodium chlorate powder also caused
concerns. Firefighters said the chemical, used in man
ufacturing explosives and cosmetics, could feed the
fire, spreading flames beyond the scattered wreckage in
a remote area near Emhouse, a community of 200
about 45 miles south of Dallas.
“Sodium chlorate is an oxidizer,” Stevenson said. “If
there is any fire around, it just enhances the fire. The
fire will burn more intensely.”
The car is about 50 feet from the burning tanker, of
ficials said.
Emtech Environmental Services Inc., a hazardous
chemicals team, covered the car containing sodium
chlorate and the surrounding area with a plastic tarp
Sunday. A violent smoldering reaction occurs when so
dium chlorate gets wet.
Texas World Speedway change
to horse racing track possible
COLLEGE STATION (AP) —
The Texas World Speedway has a
reputation as the world’s finest auto
racing facility lying dormant. To the
pain of many auto racing fans, it
might soon be a horse track.
“It’s just a shame what happened
to that track,” said racer Richard
Petty, who won three of the eight
NASCAR events held at the speed
way. “It was one of the best facilities.
But things just went wrong from the
very first. It just wasn’t meant to be.”
The track, located near Texas
A&M University, opened for its first
stock car race in December 1969 to
rainy skies and a small crowd, and
aside from two major speed records
set at the speedway, the track
struggled for attention.
The track’s last major race was the
Texas Race of Champions in Octo
ber 1988.
Racers blamed management for
the demise of the track, while man
agement blamed the media.
“Basically, poor management is
what did it in,” Petty told the Dallas
Times Herald. “The first couple of
owners had financial problem:? and
it seemed to change hands often.
Then they didn’t want to seem to
want to do anything to take care of
it.”
Harry Wharton, who now man
ages the track and has worked at the
“I
I don’t have anything
against horse racing, but
that was a great facility for
auto racing at one time.”
—Terry Labonte,
NASCAR racer
facility for 15 years, said the Texas
media ignored the track.
“We would do whatever the media
wanted us to do, but we just couldn’t
get any publicity,” he said.
There has been speculation that
Dick Conole, the owner of the track
since 1976, will try to turn things
around by making the speedway a
horse-racing facility.
“That would be awful,” said NAS
CAR racer Terry Labonte, of Cor
pus Christi. “I don’t have anything
against horse racing, but that was a
great facility for auto racing at one
time. By the time I started racing on
it, the surface had gone bad. I just
wish I had the opportunity to run it
just after it was built ... It was my fa
vorite track.”
The track was originally called
Texas International Speedway and
was a twin to Michigan International
Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., which
is host to the Michigan 500. Both
were built by American Raceways.
In 1973, Bobby Unser set the
world’s closed-course speed record
at the track at 212.766 mph, only to
have it broken six weeks later by
Mario Andretti, again at the track, at
214.158 mph.
Tug of war
Photo by Kim Collier
Members of Sigma Chi fraternity participate in tug of war, one of
many competitive events at Playday 1990 held on Saturday.
Playday is a charity event sponsored by Alpha Delta Pi sorority
to raise money for Ronald McDonald House.
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BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE AND
RICE UNIVERSITY
ANNOUNCE
A SUMMER PROGRAM FOR MINORITY STUDENTS
INTERESTED IN MEDICINE
THE
HONORS PREMEDICAL ACADEMY
Baylor College of Medicine and Rice University offer a six-week summer program for
college students interested in a medical career. The goal of the program, funded in
part by a grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is to increase minority
representation in medicine.
PROGRAM BENEFITS:
• academic enrichment in the biological sciences, mathematics, and communications.
• practical research laboratory and clinical experiences
• counseling regarding the selection of a medical school program and the application process
• preparation and review for the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT)
• housing/financial support (Out of town students will stay in dormitories on the Rice University campus, across the street from the Texas Medi
cal Center. Housing will be provided at no charge). A modest stipend will be paid to all students.
• college credit (6 semester hours for courses taken at RiceUniversity * and 3 semester hours for Baylor activities**)
• The Rice University courses are: English 317-Technical Writing (3 semester hours), and Biology 403-Special Topics (3 semester hours)
•• The Baylor College of Medicine course is AHS-399: Preceptorship in the Health Sciences (3 semester hours)
For additional information write or call the Office of Admissions, Baylor Col
lege of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, Texas 77030, 798-4841 (Houston)
or 1-800-633-6445 (Outside Houston).