NATION IN BRIEF : MINNESOTA : Accused Pilot Tells of Drinking Episode

Pilot Norman Prouse, one of three Northwest Airlines crew members accused of flying after drinking, testified in Minneapolis that he was a heavy drinker for many years and went into treatment after the March 8 incident. Prouse, 51, of Conyers, Ga., told his version of the drinking episode at a Moorhead, Minn., bar the night before the early-morning flight from Fargo, N. D., acknowledging that he had fallen while at the bar. He also described the flight with 91 passengers aboard and the events after the crew landed in Minneapolis. He was expected to confirm the defense claim that the precision and expertise exhibited by the three veteran pilots is the best proof that they were not impaired.