The Honolulu Advertiser from Honolulu, Hawaii • 1

McKellar jurors tell judge they are at an impasse A-3 1 OQ ono I Advertiser J. ULJL Mmare daricnes; nig Aloha! Today is Saturday, Feb. 25, 1989 swallowed 9 oeoole Hawaii Preservation cost Fee simple purchase of the Ho-nokahua burial site could cost the state $30 million or more United Flight 811 Page A-3 50 miles I Around the World Honolulu MOLOKAI MAUI 4 V. Pacific Book protest violent As many as 12 people lose their lives and more than 100 are injured in Bombay as police open fire on marchers protesting "The Satanic Verses" Page B-1 North courier testifies Oliver North once suggested a "suicide mission," his courier tells the jury Page B-1 Ocean .7 it Boeing 747 turns back about 100 miles south of Honolulu and makes emergency landing Editorials Another air tragedy If structural failure of an 18-year-old Boeing 747 was involved in the United 811 accident, another round of debate about aging planes will erupt Page A-10 By Jim Borg, Bart Asato and Greg Wiles Staff Writer It was going to be a long, overnight flight back home to New Zealand and so, minutes after takeoff from Honolulu, David Birrell went to sleep, with his pregnant wife Lynore and his 5-year-old daughter Claire next to him. "And then the noise.

And the first thing I saw was just the oxygen masks dangling in space. And the sign that said 'Fasten Your just dangling in space, attached by wires." David remembered later yesterday, after his middle-of-the-night nightmare had ended. Through a gaping hole in the s-ide of their United 747, passengers could look out and see stars lighting up the black sky. "The panic was within yourself, trying to make sure you put the mask on, but then you realize you're breathing anyway," David Birrell said. "And then you're trying to put your life jacket and then you realize you're sitting down and the life jackets are designed to be put on when you're standing up, so you're putting all the wrong clips in all the wrong places.

"But everybody is grabbing hold of each other because everybody thinks they are going to die." "There was debris flying around," Lynore recalled of her last 20 minutes abord United Flight 811 in the skies south of Oahu. "And up above, where you put your bags, up above, it was gone. I thought that we would be landing into the sea and then we would drown." The Birrells were seated about 10 feet away from a huge hole that had torn in the right side of a United Airlines jet carrying the Birrells and 351 other people toward Auckland early yesterday. As the plane flew' at an altitude of 22,000 feet about 100 miles south of Oahu, nine passengers were sucked through the 10-by-20-foot rect- Sports i Duran wins Roberto Duran beats Iran Bark-ley to win the World Boxing Council middleweight title Page D-3 -i angular hole to their death. Twenty-one others were injured.

An instant later, the No. 3 engine failed and 4 caught fire. Pilot Capt. David M. Cronin, 58, a 34-year veteran, nursed the plane back to Honolulu on the remaining two engines.

Federal transportation investigators this morning are to begin piecing together what caused the 19-year-old plane, one of the oldest in the United fleet, to rupture. Alan Pollock, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, said a team of 14 investigators from Washington, D.C.. and Los Angeles were scheduled to arrive in Honolulu late last night. "They're going to separate fact from fiction." he said, explaining a number of specialists will be in the group. The plane was one of a group of older Boeing jets under order to modify the lock system on their cargo doors.

Failure of the door was one of several possibilities investigators will explore today. Other possibilities included structural failure, an engine problem that sent parts flying into the fuselage or a bomb. A Honolulu radio station executive said he received a tele-See 9 people, Page A-1A Money Discount rate goes up Federal Reserve Board raises the discount rate, generating pledges from Congress and the administration for deficit solution Page C-1 Veather All islands: Mostly sunny, pass ing showers. High in upper 70s Gusty trade winds 15-30 mph. I 8 Isle, Mainland details, Page A-2 Hawaii Department ol Transportation photo The jagged hole extends from the baggage area through the main deck to the upper deck.

The Index 4 sections, 40 pages tit 3 Ann Landers -D5 Asia-Pacific news B1 Canada news Bl Classified ads D7-18 Comics, crossword, bridge D5 Editorials A10 Entertainment B2-4 Global news B1 Horoscope D5 Legislative news A3, D6 Letters to the editor A11 Living section B2-4 Money section CI -4 Obituaries A7 Religion A6, A7 Ship arrivals, departures C3 Sports section D1-4 Stocks C2 TV schedule, highlights B2 Wayne Harada B4 unite fW.ri Ml 0M- '4, i i 4 r. Advcrtitar photo by David Yamada United's Boeing 747 Flight 811 was able to land safely at Honolulu Airport despite the loss of two engines and a gaping hole in the fuselage. NIGHTMARE OVER THE PACIFIC: I A wix. i Boeing has been plagued by a series of problems. PAGE A-2.

The effect of depressurization. PAGE A-2. Relieved passengers face decisions on continuing their trips. PAGE A-1 B. Along flight back to Honolulu.

PAGE A-1 B. "We saw a big hole and we thought we were without hope." PAGE A-1 747 was one of oldest in United's fleet. PAGE A-2. Daenya cne cf many passengers vv.th a hci "3 stc-7 to tc'J..