ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 29, 1996 TAG: 9602290059
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
Airline told to pay for ignoring heart attack
MIAMI - Airlines will review their medical emergency procedures after a $2.7 million judgment against Lufthansa Airlines for staying in the air after a passenger had suffered a heart attack, an industry spokesman said Wednesday.
U.S. Magistrate-Judge Linnea Johnson ruled after a nonjury trial that Lufthansa had disregarded accepted industry practices and put travel agent Leonard Krys' life at risk when it didn't land after he showed heart-attack symptoms 90 minutes into a 10-hour flight from Miami to Frankfurt, Germany.
Lufthansa's pilot knew Krys' condition but didn't follow the airline's rules for the symptoms and didn't seek medical advice from the ground, the judge found. A Lufthansa spokesman in New York said the ruling is on appeal.
The November 1991 flight out of Miami hugged the Atlantic Coast and could have landed anywhere from Atlanta to Newfoundland. But Krys was taken all the way to Germany. A gynecologist passenger administered nitroglycerin and oxygen from airline supplies, according to testimony at the May 1995 trial.
Krys, 47, suffered significant heart wall damage and now works part time.
- Associated Press
Daiwa pleads guilty, fined $340 million
NEW YORK - Daiwa Bank Ltd. on Wednesday pleaded guilty to a criminal cover-up of $1.1 billion in bond-trading losses and will pay $340 million in fines, settling one of history's biggest banking frauds.
The financial penalty against the big Japanese bank is the fourth-largest ever levied by U.S. authorities against a financial institution operating in the United States.
U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood approved the agreement, in which Daiwa pleaded guilty to 16 of 24 criminal counts, including numerous charges of fraud and deception in connection with the huge bond losses.
Daiwa, based in Osaka, was accused by U.S. authorities in November of conniving with its former top New York bond trader to hide the extraordinary losses from bank regulators over a 12-year period.
Early this month, Daiwa was evicted from the United States as a result of the scandal. The bank sold branches in 15 U.S. cities and most of its loans and related assets to Sumitomo Bank Ltd. for $3.37 billion.
- Associated Press
AT&T offers free ride on Internet for a year
AT&T Corp. heated up the Internet and the long-distance service business this week with a free Internet access offer to its 80 million customers.
An AT&T long-distance customer can order free WorldNet Service software and cruise the Internet for free five hours a month for a year. The charge for more than five hours a month is $2.50 an hour.
The company, which says it will route calls so no one will get a busy signal, also will offer an unlimited-use plan for $19.95 a month.
The service will be available March 14. More information is available by calling (800)967-5363.
AT&T's entrance into the Internet-access arena is seen as a major threat to smaller Internet providers such as Netcom On-line Communications Corp., and UUNet Technologies Inc., as well as on-line services such as America Online, Columbus-based CompuServe and Prodigy.
- Associated Press
Briefly ...
SWVA Bancshares Inc., Roanoke parent of Southwest Virginia Savings Bank, on Wednesday declared a semiannual stock dividend of 15 cents per share, payable March 31 to shareholders of March 11.
American Electric Power Co. Inc. said Wednesday its Roanoke-based subsidiary, the former Appalachian Power Co., will redeem on March 30 the entire outstanding principal of four series of first mortgage bonds, with principals totaling $159.8 million. Notice of the action is to be mailed today. Bankers Trust Co. of New York is redemption agent and trustee.
ACS Inc. of Roanoke has begun offering Realnet Direct, a digital satellite service for real-estate professionals. The new channel offers training for the real-estate business and daily features from national realty professionals. Monthly rates for businesses are $49.95 and for individuals, $19.95.
Sunrise Images, a Roanoke County company offering video production services, has opened at 6349 Sunnyvale Road. The company specializes in video productions for business and industry on training, safety, economic development, and promotional and corporate communications. W. Joseph Dupuis is producer and director.
LENGTH: Medium: 87 linesby CNB