Warning Light

General Motors announced Monday it's recalling more than 38,000 Chevrolet and Buick eAssist light hybrid cars for a potential fire issue. The automaker said circuit boards in the trunk can potentially overheat, causing the cars' 12-volt battery to drain and one of several indicator lights to turn on. If owners ignore the warning lights, the engine could stall and a fire could occur in the trunk, GM said. The issue is not related to the cars' rechargable lithium-ion battery that is part of the eAssist hybrid system.

General Motors announced Monday it's recalling more than 38,000 Chevrolet and Buick eAssist light hybrid cars for a potential fire issue. The automaker said circuit boards in the trunk can potentially overheat, causing the cars' 12-volt battery to drain and one of several indicator lights to turn on. If owners ignore the warning lights, the engine could stall and a fire could occur in the trunk, GM said. The issue is not related to the cars' rechargable lithium-ion battery that is part of the eAssist hybrid system.

A Frontier Airlines jet touched down safely Tuesday at Los Angeles International Airport after a cockpit light indicated cargo door trouble. The Airbus carrying 119 passengers and crew was diverted to LAX after taking off about 11 a.m. from John Wayne Airport in Orange County on a flight to Denver. The pilot noticed a flashing light indicating that a cargo door was not fully closed.

U.S. regulators warned manufacturers of so-called light-sport aircraft that many of them are violating safety standards and could be shut down. Most makers aren't following rules that were streamlined to help a struggling industry, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a Federal Register filing Thursday. Manufacturers audited by the agency couldn't prove that planes were properly built and inspected, and weren't able to notify plane owners of safety directives, the FAA said.

An American Airlines jet safely aborted takeoff at O'Hare International Airport after a warning light went on in the cockpit. No one was injured, officials said. The Chicago-to-Stockholm Flight 80 was speeding down a runway Sunday when a landing gear warning light went on, officials said.

Ford Motor Co. is recalling 211,432 of its 2006 Ford F-150 and Lincoln Mark LT pickup trucks to fix a potentially faulty warning light for anti-lock brakes, U.S. safety regulators said. The vehicles were built with a software error in the brake system cluster, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website. The administration also said DaimlerChrysler was recalling 39,274 of its 2006 Dodge Dakota, Dodge Ram and Mitsubishi Raider pickup trucks.

An Anaheim police helicopter made an emergency landing in a construction zone next to the Santa Ana Freeway on Saturday, tying up traffic for several miles. There were no injuries, officials said. The helicopter's two pilots had been assisting the California Highway Patrol in a high-speed pursuit about 4:30 p.m. when a warning light flashed on the helicopter's console.

A JetBlue airliner circled above the ocean for more than two hours and then returned to Long Beach Municipal Airport early Saturday after a warning light erroneously indicated a problem with the landing gear. The warning light came on shortly after New York-bound Flight 216 took off from Long Beach about 10 p.m. Friday, a JetBlue spokeswoman said.

Twelve passengers suffered minor injuries sliding down evacuation chutes when an American Airlines jumbo jet returned for an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday morning after a cockpit warning light falsely indicated an engine fire. The DC-10 jetliner, which had taken off a few minutes earlier for Boston with 211 passengers and a crew of 13, touched down safely.

An airplane carrying New York Gov. Mario M. Cuomo to the governors' convention in Michigan made an emergency landing Sunday after a warning light indicated that one of the aircraft's engines was on fire. The Grumman G-1 propjet landed safely with one engine functioning at the Albany County Airport. The 10 passengers and two pilots were not injured.

Kia Motors America will recall almost 150,000 older Optima sedans and Rondo crossover vehicles because of a defect that could prevent the driver's side air bag from deploying in a collision, the company said. The South Korean automaker said the recall covers 2006 to 2008 Optimas and Rondos from the 2007 and 2008 model years. The company no longer sells the Rondo. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the clock-spring assembly used in the air-bag system can become damaged over time and prevent the air bag from deploying.

Kia will recall almost 150,000 older Optima sedans and Rondo crossover utility vehicles because of a defect that could prevent the driver's side airbag from deploying in a collision, the company said. The South Korean automaker said the recall includes 2006-2008 Optimas and Rondos from the 2007-2008 model years. The company no longer sells the Rondo. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that the clock-spring assembly used in the airbag system can become damaged over time and prevent the airbag from deploying.  The problem triggers the airbag warning light to go on in an affected vehicle, according to Kia. Drivers of cars that don't have the warning light illuminated have a functioning airbag, according to the automaker.

Chrysler dealers have been through the wringer before, and although Chrysler's bankruptcy on Thursday has many worried about a sales slide, most are staying optimistic. "This is completely uncharted territory, and there are still so many unknowns," said John Sackrison, executive director of the Orange County Automobile Dealers Assn. "Bankruptcy is not the preferred option, but each day we're learning a little bit more, and the dealers will come out stronger on the other side of this."

The only surviving crewman aboard a Metrolink train that slammed into a freight train in Chatsworth in September has told investigators that a track-side warning light just south of the crash site was green, his attorneys said Thursday. Conductor Robert Heldenbrand told investigators that he saw the green signal from the depot just before the train pulled out of the station, said San Dimas attorney John Gilbert.

We have a market paradox on our hands. Consumer confidence is close to a 40-year low, suggesting that the economy is in worse shape now than in times that seemed far darker, such as the early 1980s, when both inflation and unemployment crept into double digits. Yet many of the current economic indicators, including inflation and unemployment, are rather positive -- or at least not as negative as consumer sentiment implies. So why are consumers, myself included, so gloomy? I suspect that one answer lies in a psychological condition caused by prolonged exposure to unpredictable negative events called "learned helplessness."

A Qantas Airways jumbo jet bound for Sydney, Australia, experienced a last-minute, delay Monday night at Los Angeles International Airport when the pilot braked so sharply that four tires went flat. The Boeing 747-400 was on the runway when a warning light came on in the cockpit about 11 p.m., said Tom Winfrey, a spokesman for LAX. The pilot then hit the brakes. Four tires deflated, Winfrey said. No injuries were reported. The flight was rescheduled to depart on Tuesday afternoon.

Federal officials are expected to announce today that they will install a $6-million warning system at LAX that dramatically reduced close calls on the ground in tests at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. At a news conference this afternoon, Robert A. Sturgell, acting FAA administrator, is expected to detail the agency's plan to install lights on one of the airport's four runways and at various taxiways on the north and south airfields. Testing is to begin early next year.

A long night scouring a deep, dark ocean is proving uneventful -- until the luminous red dots begin drifting across the sonar screen. Banter in the wheelhouse suddenly stops and grubby fingers point to the dots clustered along the bottom, as if trying to locate the enemy. On deck, a fisherman lurches forward as his rod dips seaward. Another fisherman is jerked against the rail, then another. "What else can it be?" says Capt.