PARIS
Concorde report: debris on runway, Continental Airlines maintenance
Associated Press
An official French report released yesterday said one factor in the crash of an Air France Concorde jet was maintenance that "did not conform to the regulations" at Continental Airlines, whose DC-10 shed a piece of stray metal on the runway.
The report by French investigators suggested that the Federal Aviation Administration audit Continental's maintenance operations.
Continental rejected the allegations, called an audit unnecessary and blamed the "inherently unsafe design" of the supersonic Concorde for the July 25, 2000 crash outside Paris that killed 113 people.
The report confirmed a long-held theory that the Concorde's tire was punctured during takeoff by a piece of metal on the runway from the DC-10, which took off five minutes before the Concorde at Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Pieces of rubber from the punctured tires hit the fuel tanks, causing a fire and bringing down the Concorde, the report said.
"The loss of the metallic piece by the DC-10 of Continental Airlines had been identified as resulting from maintenance operations that did not conform to the regulations," the report said.
Houston-based Continental rejected the allegation, saying it has not been able to confirm that the piece of metal, known as a wear strip, came from its airliner. It said the strip on its aircraft was installed according to procedures in the manufacturer's manual. The manufacturer was General Electric Co.
NEW YORK
Algerian sentenced to 24 years in prison in L.A. airport bombing plot
Associated Press
An Algerian was sentenced to 24 years in prison yesterday - the maximum - for his role in a plot to detonate a suitcase bomb at the Los Angeles airport amid the millennium celebrations.
Mokhtar Haouari, 32, who lives in Canada, was convicted last summer of federal charges he supplied fake IDs and cash to two others in the plot.
The plot was foiled when its mastermind, Ahmed Ressam, was arrested in Washington state in December 1999 while trying to enter from Canada in a car with a trunkful of explosives. Ressam had been trained in terrorist camps financed by Osama bin Laden, according to investigators.
At the time, prosecutors said that the attack on the crowded airport in the days before Jan. 1, 2000, could have been the bloodiest act of terrorism against the United States since the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
Haouari turned down the opportunity to speak at his sentencing and sat impassively.
"The defendant's conduct posed a great risk to the well-being of the American people," U.S. District Judge John Keenan said.
The jury found finding Haouari guilty of conspiracy to supply material support to a terrorist act. He was also convicted of conspiracy to commit fraud.
Haouari was accused of supplying Ressam with phony identification and $3,000 used to buy bomb-making chemicals for a holy war against the United States.
The jury acquitted Haouari on a charge that he aided the airport bombing plot in particular. Prosecutors acknowledged that Haouari did not know the exact bombing target.
The prosecution's case hinged on the testimony of Ressam, who was convicted in Los Angeles of charges including explosives smuggling, lying to customs officials and planning to commit acts of international terrorism. He agreed to testify against Haouari in hopes of reducing a potential 130-year sentence. Ressam's sentencing is set for Feb. 14.
Also taking the stand was Abdel Ghani Meskini, an Algerian living in New York who was recruited by Haouari to visit Seattle in 1999 to help Ressam with the plot. Meskini pleaded guilty to conspiracy and is awaiting sentencing.
PHOENIX
Plans to steal 'fountain of youth' human growth hormone shipment foiled
Associated Press
A Russian criminal syndicate's attempt to steal a multimillion-dollar shipment of a human growth hormone has been broken up in Arizona, authorities said yesterday.
A four-month investigation focused on a northeast Phoenix pharmacy.
Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley said there was an alleged scheme to hijack a FedEx truck containing a shipment of Saizen, the growth hormone commonly referred to as HGH which is used to reverse the biological effects of aging.
Touted as the "fountain of youth," HGH is used to replace several hormones - such as estrogen, progesterone and testosterone - that decline in production as people age beyond 40.
The targeted shipment was worth an estimated $3 million on the black market, authorities said at a news conference.
Authorities said the scheme also involved the kidnapping and killing of a witness in the case - Konstantin Simberg, 21.
They said Simberg was cooperating with authorities investigating the plot to steal the Saizen shipment.
Simberg's body was discovered by hunters in a remote area of Yavapai County called Childs on Dec. 16.
Two men indicted in the killing are being sought while a third is in custody.
Five other people also are under indictment, accused of plotting the hijacking.
Two of those are in custody and authorities said the other three will be served summonses.
