
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, March 17, 1991                   TAG: 9103170161
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: D-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

VAN DRIVER CHARGED IN 2 AIRPORT DEATHS

The driver of a Northwest Airlines van has been charged with hit-and-run and involuntary manslaughter after running over two women who had just gotten off a commuter plane and were walking toward the terminal of Washington National Airport.

Aaron Standifer, 51, of Suitland, Md., was being held at the Arlington County Detention Center in Virginia on $60,000 bond Saturday night, said police.

Standifer was driving through a restricted area Friday night when he struck the women, who were walking on a striped pedestrian walkway, said David Hess, spokesman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.

Yvonne Lethem, 52, of Falls Church, died at the scene, police said. Her family was waiting for her at the terminal when the incident occurred.

Isaura Lages, 31, of Miami, Fla., was taken by helicopter to Washington Hospital Center, where she later died. Lages was an employee of Pan American World Airlines, Hess said. She was dressed in her uniform but was a passenger on Pan Am Flight 4779, which had arrived from LaGuardia International Airport in New York.

Terminal arms that extend to meet larger aircraft cannot be used for such commuter planes. Passengers have to walk a short distance on the ground after departing from the planes.

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB