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

DATE: THURSDAY, July 27, 1995                   TAG: 9507270072
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

SAFETY OFFICIALS LOOKING INTO USAIR INCIDENT

A USAir Boeing 737 on autopilot rolled sharply to its right early Tuesday on its final approach to the airport. Pilots quickly took manual control of the craft, leveled its wings and landed safely.

The plane, Flight 299 from LaGuardia Airport in New York, landed safely about 8:35 a.m., said Arlene Salac of the Federal Aviation Administration. None of the 48 passengers or four crew members was injured, she said.

``It experienced what we refer to as an uncontrolled roll to the right when the airplane was at 1,700 feet,'' Salac said.

National Traffic Safety Board spokesman Mike Benson said he saw no correlation with USAir Flight 427, which rolled unexpectedly and plunged 6,000 feet into a wooded hillside near Pittsburgh last September, killing all 132 people on board.

Although investigators have not determined why Flight 427 crashed, the NTSB has said that the plane's rudder was pushed hard to the left, causing it to change direction.

Flight data recordings from the Richmond flight were taken to NTSB headquarters in Washington to determine what caused the roll, Benson said.

USAir spokesman Paul Turk in Arlington said the pilot of Flight 299 was attempting a coupled landing, incorporating autopilot capabilities and manual operation, when the roll occurred.

He said the pilot was about to take manual control of the plane, but the roll forced him to do it sooner.

``It was not severe by any means,'' Turk said.

Liz Verdier, a spokeswoman at Boeing's headquarters in Seattle, said the company's 737-400 airplanes could land on autopilot if necessary, but pilots always take manual control of the craft.

Nevertheless, inspectors from the Boeing joined FAA and NTSB inspectors in Richmond to examine the plane. ``We don't know what happened yet,'' Verdier said.

Benson said the horrifying image of last fall's crash has spawned a heightened awareness and sensitivity to incidents that sound similar.

Since the Pittsburgh crash, Benson said the NTSB has examined about six in-flight rolls. All of them, he said, were caused by either electrical or mechanical problems that were corrected.

Benson said the roll that preceded the Pittsburgh crash was different from those it has investigated since.

``It's a different movement entirely,'' he said. Except for Flight 427, the airplanes' noses remained on-course. The nose of Flight 427 yawed before the aircraft rolled, he said.