The World - News from Jan. 13, 1985

Arab officials in countries around the Persian Gulf dismissed as a hoax a distress call supposedly from an airliner that had crashed in the gulf, killing 135 people. The Mayday message, received by air controllers in various gulf nations, said an airliner had gone down and was sinking in the gulf. But a check throughout the region turned up no missing plane. One source traced the hoax to a ham radio operator.