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

DATE: SATURDAY, January 28, 1995                   TAG: 9501310040
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: PITTSBURGH                                 LENGTH: Short

SAFETY CZAR DEFENDS USAIR OVER `SKIMPING' ALLEGATIONS

USAir didn't try to cut costs by skimping on maintenance, and allegations that any such steps led to the crash of Flight 427 are bogus, the airline's new safety czar told federal officials Friday.

Robert Oaks defended his airline against ``insinuations'' of lapses in safety and said internal and external reviews have turned up no serious transgressions.

``We feel a little bit victimized by some of the publicity, the innuendo and insinuations of malpractice,'' specifically the allegations of maintenance shortcuts, he said on the final day of a National Transportation Safety Board hearing.

His testimony came as a federal official voiced distress over not being able to identify a probable cause for the Sept. 8 crash near Pittsburgh that killed 132 people.

``I'm frustrated. We're all frustrated,'' said NTSB Chairman James Hall. ``This has been a very difficult accident investigation.''

The week's worth of testimony made it clear that investigators believe a sharp left-rudder movement may have caused the Boeing 737-300 to flip and dive into the ground. Little else was concluded.

``We need to explain why, if the rudder moved, as the flight simulations indicated it did, did it move as the result of an action of the flight crew or another anomaly?'' Hall said.

Both pilot error and a malfunction within the rudder's power control unit have been considered.

Oaks said he didn't believe pilot error was possible: ``These are not novices to the business,'' Oaks testified. ``They have thousands of hours of flying time.''

by CNB