NATION IN BRIEF : MINNESOTA : Jurors Ask to See Pilots’ Bar Tabs

Jurors in the Minneapolis trial of three former Northwest pilots charged with flying a jetliner while intoxicated asked to review court transcripts and a copy of the men’s bar tab from a tavern they drank at the night before their early morning flight. Attorneys for the pilots maintain crew members proved they were not impaired by flying the aircraft “flawlessly” through a freezing drizzle and heavy cloud cover. The defendants--captain Norman Prouse, 51, Conyers, Ga.; co-pilot Robert Kirchner, 36, Highland Ranch, Colo., and flight engineer Joseph Balzer, 35, Antioch, Tenn.--guided a Boeing 727 with 91 passengers aboard on a March 8 flight from Fargo, N.D., to Minneapolis. In tests, the Northwest Airlines pilots had blood-alcohol readings of 0.06%, 0.08% and, for the captain, 0.13%.