Hard Landing

The International Olympic Committee's World Conference on Doping in Sport reached its inevitable conclusion Thursday, producing a declaration so watered down by internal bickering and personal agendas that it was amazing the ink was still visible.

The safety of the Los Angeles Fire Department's helicopter fleet is again being questioned after a Saturday accident involving a chopper similar to one that crashed in March. Engine failure during a routine training flight at about 9:30 p.m. Saturday forced the pilot to land without power in a canyon north of Pacific Palisades. None of the three firefighters on board were injured, beyond a sprained ankle.

Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who once firmly opposed an airport at El Toro, has softened his position recently as he has quietly told Republican Party leaders he is considering running for higher office in a pro-airport district. In the last month, Spitzer has met with Assemblyman Dick Ackerman (R-Fullerton) and several GOP leaders to lay out his plan to run for Ackerman's seat in the Legislature in 2000.

A single-engine plane made an emergency landing on Santa Catalina Island on Thursday after the aircraft's engine failed shortly after taking off from the airport, authorities said. No injuries were reported. Catalina resident Fred Freeman, 67, took off from the Catalina Airport in the Sky about 10 a.m. and quickly encountered engine trouble with his Cessna. Deputy Douglas Miller said Freeman was forced to land the plane about two miles west of the airport.

Most playgrounds in Los Angeles County and across the nation pose hidden risks that could seriously injure or even kill young children, two consumer organizations said Thursday. Children's play equipment often rises too high off the ground, is installed too close together or is surrounded by hard landing areas that make play more dangerous than it should be, said a report released by the California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG) and the Consumer Federation of America.

A former Orange County man was forced to abandon his quest to become the first person to circle the Earth nonstop in a balloon when he ran into trouble and landed early Wednesday at a frozen lake in eastern Canada. Millionaire soybean trader Steve Fossett, 51, had lifted off from the Black Hills of South Dakota in predawn darkness on Monday and immediately encountered biting cold, a dead heater and problems with his autopilot.

Well after the Cold War thawed and the shrunken Pentagon budget sent defense contractors scurrying to commercial customers, the maker of Guardian parachutes and automatic rip cords still relied on the U.S. armed forces for much of its revenue. But during the last 12 months, FXC Corp. began to feel the pressure too, and it sought new customers in a way that expanded the meaning of defense conversion. Just because the Defense Department cut back on orders, FXC founder Frank X.

An Alitalia flight from Rome made a "hard landing" Friday at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, blowing out its two front tires. No one was injured in the landing, officials said.

It's not your everyday career dilemma: Ed isn't sure if he wants to be a shaman or a filmmaker. But Darren Burrows, who plays "Northern Exposure's" thoughtful and inquisitive Ed--Cicely, Alaska's resident half-Native American-- knows what he wants to be: an actor. Period. Burrows, 27, is thrilled he's doing it, despite the show's long shooting schedule in Washington state that lasts more than 10 months in often-freezing temperatures.