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

DATE: SUNDAY, April 9, 1995                   TAG: 9504100068
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-17   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PITTSBURGH                                LENGTH: Short

USAIR RE-CREATES CONDITIONS OF JET CRASH IN EXPERIMENT

Investigators will use two jets in an experiment to try to determine whether another plane's turbulence could have caused the crash of USAir Flight 427, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Investigators agree that the jet's rudder moved sharply to the left, sending the plane into a steep bank before it fell nose-first to the ground, killing all 132 people aboard. But they're not sure why the rudder moved.

The National Transportation Safety Board will use the planes to test whether a Boeing 727 that was flying four miles ahead of the USAir Boeing 737 could have caused enough turbulence to trigger the crash, the newspaper reported, quoting a source close to the investigation.

The NTSB will lease a Boeing 737 and borrow a Boeing 727 from the Federal Aviation Administration, rig both jets with sensors and fly them in weather conditions similar to those the evening of the crash.

Investigators plan to conduct the $2 million weeklong test before the end of May, the newspaper said.

by CNB