The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 1

BUSINESS I1 TRAVEL D5 FORUM D1 Cincinnati the real winner in ends Wildcats Questions surround icon's fall Getaways in Puerto Rico a Florida winning streak lynt saga NCINM SPORTS C1 pjJ.Ll -iMf awmi A Gannett Newspaper 843,200 readers Final Editionmo $1.50 Sunday January 12, 1997 FLIGHT- mm (B(9j HflG irWl Boehner victim of listener Congressman's cell phone overheard BY PAUL BARTON Enquirer Washington Bureau WASHINGTON It was Rep. John Boehner's cellular phone that was intercepted, resulting in a recording of a conversation among House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Mr. Boehner and other GOP inn inn i Comair flight was routine until black box indicates BY CAMERON McWHIRTER The Cincinnati Enquirer RAISINVILLE TOWNSHIP, Mich. About one minute after Comair's Cincinnati to Detroit Flight 3272 leveled off at 4,000 feet, "an event took place and all operations ceased," a federal air safety official said Saturday. The twin-engine turboprop Embraer Brasilia 120 crashed about one minute later, killing all 26 passengers and three crew members on board, said John Hammerschmidt, chief spokesman for the National Transportation The on Dec.

phone conversation, held 21 as Mr. Boehner was taking his family to Florida for a Christmas vacation, created a firestorm at the At I John Boehner 4- ena 01 me weeK on Capitol Hill. Republicans were outraged that the conversation was intercepted and that a transcript was turned over to the New York Times by an unidentified Democratic congressman who was described as hostile to Mr. Gingrich. But others, i i y4v'- i''i I 1 Newt Gingrich Preliminary NTS8 report Here are early findings from the National Transportation -Safety Board on the crash of Comair 3272: Weather Moderate, occasional turbulence in the area.

A nearby pilot reported icing conditions just before the crash. Voice recorder The "black box" revealed "an uneventful, routine, businesslike flight" and that the crew had activated deicing equipment. Witness Interviews: Three eyewitnesses said the plane rolled back and forth, appeared to stabilize, then plunged nose down into the ground. Safety Board team investigating last Thursday's crash. The crash occurred in a field about 18 miles southwest of the Detroit Metro Airport.

Mr. Hammerschmidt said the "event" was detected in an early, verbal report on the cockpit recorder. He would not characterize what the "event" might have been or how the pilot and crew reacted to it. His comments came during a press briefing Saturday evening at the Monroe County Community Mental Health Center after investigators spent another day picking through the snow- Crash unites strangers in shared death They were a minister and a carpenter, a teacher and a law student They were a perfect couple, a group of business executives, and a soon-to-be college graduate who had just found the perfect job. They came from Arizona, Missisippi, Colorado and Georgia, from big cities and small towns.

They were bound for the warmth of home, for a child's first visit with his grandmother, for a memorial service for a brother, for the bedside of a father facing open heart surgery. And they came together in one final, defining moment on an icy, unforgiving winter day Thursday, as they queued up for Comair Flight 3272 at CincinnatiNorthern Kentucky International Airport Twenty-six passengers and three crew members made up the manifest of that flight They were a microcosm of the people who have made the airport what it is: a connecting point for travelers from throughout the country. When their flight made its final plunge into a snowblown field in Monroe County Michigan, their lives became forever connected. The starkness of news reports put the death toll of Flight 3272 at 29. But to those who worked with them, lived with them, and loved them dearly, they were far more than just names on a manifest Their stories are inside on Pages A8 and A9.

A Darinda Nilsen (Comair flight attendant was the including Democrats, say the tone of the conversation violated an agreement Mr. Gingrich had with the House Ethics Committee. In return for admitting only some limited guilt, Mr. Gingrich, who only narrowly was re-elected speaker Tuesday, had agreed not to orchestrate a counterattack. Not honoring that pledge could prove more troublesome to Mr.

jingrich than the somewhat com-jlex ethics charges lodged against lim since the speaker still faces i series of sensitive and potentially lamaging House Ethics Committee learings on his alleged use of political organizations further political causes. There is no agreement on how nany days of public hearings there nil be, when they will begin or irhen the committee will vote on a ecommended punishment. All ave to be completed by Jan. 21, hen the full House is scheduled to ote on the committee's recommendation. Regardless of the protests of ongressional Republicans, party fficials were watching closely pub-c reaction to the mid-morning anference call.

Their concern is lat Mr. Gingrich, will be as arrogantly ignoring his (Please see BOEHNER, Page A20) covered wreckage in sub-zero temperatures. "We haven't ruled anything in or out," Mr. Hammerschmidt said. "It's an event we are trying to determine, to understand." He said 15 witnesses have been interviewed who saw or heard the crash.

Seven of those were eyewitnesses, and three were witnesses who observed it for an extended time and had consistent stories. "The key thing" they said was that the aircraft rolled, leveled off briefly "then the nose of the aircraft abruptly pitched down to the ground," Mr. Hammerschmidt said. The cockpit's voice recorder kept running (Please see CRASH, Page AlO) only child of James and Ruth Ogden of Fort Thomas. Dexter C.

Adams The Procter Gamble executive, foreground, was a 1978 graduate of West Point. I il -te-. lit For continuing coverage of the crash of Comair Flight 3272, visit The Enquirer's web site at http:enquirer.comcomair3272 VEATHER -T Sun may push temps Palmer diagnosed with prostate cancer 'olar express A Arnold tw Polmor Viae all the way up to 15 I prostate can-1 cer. Mr. High 11 "Low -4 For warm weather, try Anchorage.

Wind chill near -25 this morning. Afternoon brings little heat, but wind subsides. Back below zero tonight. predicted a low of zero to minus 5 degrees Saturday night, with a The Cincinnati Enquirer Bitter cold temperatures and a sub-zero wind-chill factor kept 10-15 mph wind that would make it feel like minus 27. Palmer, 67, said he would not compete until the cancer was "tak Details, back page this section sections, 156th year, No.

278 spyright 1 996, The Cincinnati Enquirer Xx VwJ r- the Tristate shivering Saturday. And the cold was expected to continue today. Nearly 140 homeless people took shelter at the Drop-Inn Center in Over-the-Rhine Friday, and more were expected Saturday night, Today's forecast calls for partly sunny skies and a high of 10 to 15 degrees. Temperatures tonight are expected to fall to near zero, with a wind chill factor of minus 10. lnsideA2 Tristate temps hardly compare to the miseiy elsewhere: 16-foot snow drifts in the northern Plains; minus 41 degrees in Havre, Mont B5 E2 Obituaries aby jsiness J1 Plugged In he The Cincinnati EnquirerTony Jones en care of." SportsCl Court set to hear Paula Jones case On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear the case of Paula Jones, who has accused President Clinton of exposing himself to her in 1991.

Their ruling will determine whether a president can be required to stand trial in a civil case. NationA15 I E11 D1 Puzzles F1 Real Estate aalthSclence A23 ametown B3 C1 Sports H5 Taste Alluring library: There's a new addition to the main branch of the Public Library downtown. At the $44.8 million extension, which will be dedicated Wednesday, a dramatic spiral staircase leads from the atrium to the ground floor. A look at downtown's newest gem, TempoE1 itteries etro A16, B2 B1 Though bitter cold, the weekend temperatures are far from record lows. The record for Jan.

11 was minus 12 degrees, set in 1886; and for Jan. 12 the record was minus 16, set in 1918. a volunteer said. To assist crowded shelters, the city opened an emergency winter shelter for the second straight night at the Over-the-Rhine Community Center, 1715 Republic St. The National Weather Service TempoThe Arts E1 Travel D5 itionWorld A2-22 Classified F8-20, G1-8.

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