Sabotage ruled out
f
Air crash probe continues
SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE,
Canary Islands (AP) — Spanish
authorities on Monday ruled out
sabotage or control tower error in
the fog shrouded collision of
American and Dutch jumbo jets
that killed 577 persons in the
greatest tragedy of aviation his
tory.
There were conflicting reports
on how the Boeing 747s of Pan
American World Airways and the
Dutch KLM airline collided on the
runway of this Spanish island
Sunday afternoon. American,
Spanish and Dutch investigators
were probing the blackened ruins
of the jetliners.
Both planes were diverted to
the Santa Cruz airport because of
a terrorist bomb explosion earlier
Blanket-covered bodies of the
victims were placed in a hanger
near the runway. U.S. officials
said their first concern was to ar
range for shipment of the Pan
American victims back to the Un
ited States.
One of the American survivors,
Jack Ridout of Alpine, Calif., said
in a telephone interview, “I’ve
never seen so many dead bodies.
There was nothing but burning
gasoline and burning metal. I
picked up as many persons as I
could before the plane exploded.”
Nearly all of the victims were
American and Dutch vacationers.
KLM officials reported all 248
passengers and crew members
on its jet perished in the flames
and explosions.
A Pan American spokesman
said there were 68 survivors, in
cluding the pilot, from its plane but
328 were killed — 319 passen
gers and nine crew members.
Both jetliners had been char
tered by groups of vacationers.
Pan American said most of its
passengers boarded the flight in
Los Angeles for a 10-day Mediter
ranean holiday, and 14 joined the
group during a stopover in New
York.
KLM officials reported four of its
passengers were Americans. It
identified them as Mr. and Mrs.
Don Gillis and Mrs. Terry Twist
and her 18-month-old daughter,
Melissa, all of Rochester, N.Y.
at tne air terminal at Las Piamas,
on a neighboring island that had
been their original destination.
Court delays
tape decision
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former
Pres. Richard Nixon’s attorneys
won another day in court when the
Supreme Court agreed Monday to
decide whether the 30 White
House tapes played in the Water
gate trial of Nixon’s top advisers
should be released to the public.
The high court agreed to review
a ruling by the U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in Washington that the
tapes are no longer confidential.
The three television networks,
public television, a news directors
association and a recording com
pany want to make the tapes av
ailable publicly.
Nixon has argued the release of
the tapes would invade his privacy
and prove embarrassing to him.
The tapes, transcripts of which
were highly publicized during the
Watergate cover-up trial of John
Mitchell, H.R. Haldeman, John
Ehrlichman and two other Nixon
administration officials, recorded
conversations within the White
House Oval Office.
Marijuana bill
survives vote
OLYMPIA (AP) — A move to kill
a marijuana decriminalization bill
was defeated overwhelmingly on
the House floor Monday.
A move to indefinitely postpone
the measure was voted down 68 -
29 when the House started con
sidering amendments. Also voted
down easily was a move that
would have resulted in a referen
dum.
In more than an hour of debate
and consideration, not a single
proposed amendment was suc
cessful. More were pending when
the House quit for the day.
Under the bill, possession of
less than 40 grams of marijuana
would not be a criminal offense,
but would be subject to a ‘‘civil
penalty” of up to $50. Police could
ticket such users much as traffic
offenders are ticketed. Public use
or driving while possessing less
than that amount in the vehicle
would remain a misdemeanor.
CHINATOWN
Polanski, Dunaway,
Nicholson
Sat, Sun, 150 Geo.
7 and 9:30 _
-World at a glance-^
From Associated Press Reoorts
French premier resigns
PARIS — French Premier Raymond Barre handed his resig
nation Monday to Pres. Valery Giscard d’ Estaing, a presidential
spokesman announced. But he is expected to be reappointed
after a cabinet reshuffle.
The move came in reaction to the strong leftist gains in
nationwide municipal elections earlier this month.
Ministers who failed to gain election in the local voting are
among those expected to be replaced as Giscard d’Estaing seeks
a new team to rally the country before the 1978 legislative elec
tions.
Vietnam discharges upgraded
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Harold Brown today
authorized the armed services to upgrade more than 432,000
undesirable and general discharges given for Vietnam War de
sertion, drug abuse and other causes.
Each case will be considered on its own merits, unlike Pres.
Carter's blanket pardon of thousands of draft evaders.
Put your expensive eye
behind our inexpensive System 35...and WOW.
Just about any of the great photographs you see
could have been taken with Vivitar System 35.
Plus one good eye. Vivitar System 35 is a most
inexpensive way to get serious about photography.
The basic limitation is your own creativity and skill
Vivitar 220/SL 35mm camera Center-weighted
match needle metering system/Speeds from
1/1000 to 1 second plus “B" for time expo
sure/ Electronic flash sync at 1 /125th
second/Universal thread mount 50mm
f1.8 lens/Built-in hot shoe/Self timer/
Film-in-chamber indicator/ASA Range
25-1600 Vivitar Automatic Electronic
Flash Up to 200 flashes from one single
9 volt alkaline battery. Vivitar Automatic
135mm f2.8 lens Super focal length
for portraits/About 21/j times larger than
normal image Vivitar 2X Tele Converter
Doubles the effective focal length of your
lenses/Converts the 50mm lens to 100mm/
the 135mm lens to 270mm. Vivitar Enduro
Case Carries the entire system com
fortably and securely while hiking, cycling,
skiing, etc. Find the nearest Vivitar dealer and
ask for a demonstration.
Marketed in the U.S.A. by Ponder & Best, Inc.
Corporate Offices: 1630 Stewart Street, Santa Monica,
CA 90406. In Canada: Vivitar Canada Ltd./U6e
©Ponder & Best, Inc., 1977
Vivitar. System 35