Brown Crash Probe Continues

Preliminary evidence from an investigation into the air crash that killed Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown in Croatia indicates the plane did not suffer a major structural failure before the crash, a senior Air Force official said Tuesday.

But the official, who asked not to be identified by name, told reporters that the investigation was not over and that possible mechanical problems had not been ruled out in the April 3 crash, which also killed 34 other passengers and crew near Dubrovnik.

“Although we are very careful not to speculate on causes--that is the [investigation] board’s job and they will do this very thoroughly and objectively--at this point we have nothing that leads us to believe that there was a failure of any major system component,” the official said at a Pentagon briefing.

The official said failure of a major component might include separation of a wing or rudder from the Air Force twin-engine T-43, which slammed into a mountain in rain and fog as it tried to land. The T-43 is a military version of the Boeing 737-200.

Meantime, Defense Secretary William J. Perry ordered the military to install “black box” flight data and voice recorders on all of its passenger planes, the Pentagon said Tuesday. The plane in the Brown crash carried no such recording devices, which are standard equipment on commercial jets.