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Time - Man of the Year
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Time_Man_of_the_Year_Compact_Publishing_3YX-Disc-1_Compact_Publishing_1993.iso
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080392
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0803992.000
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1993-04-08
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2KB
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38 lines
THE WEEK, Page 21NATIONEndangered Species
A controversial plane crashes as Congress slashes defense
spending
Critics had warned that the V-22 Osprey, a craft combining
the vertical talents of a helicopter and the horizontal speed of
a normal airplane, would become "a stone in the air" if it lost
power while making the change from one mode to the other.
Tragically, that proved to be the case for the prototype
tilt-rotor aircraft as it was landing at Quantico Marine Base
in Virginia. Just as the Osprey was shifting from horizontal to
vertical flight, with its propellers at a 60 degrees angle, it
plunged into the Potomac River, killing all seven people on
board.
The accident immediately cast further doubt on an
innovative program Defense Secretary Dick Cheney has repeatedly
attacked. But despite the catastrophe, the Osprey managed to
survive a general drive to trim defense costs as the Senate
Armed Services Committee made its final changes in the 1993
defense authorization bill. The committee endorsed the House
figure of $775 million for Osprey prototypes, though it mandated
that only 50% of the funds can be spent until the Marine Corps
Commandant reports fully on the crash. Surprisingly, the Senate
agreed with the House figure of $4.3 billion for the Strategic
Defense Initiative. The committee recommended total spending of
$274.5 billion, $7 billion below President Bush's request and
$3.5 billion higher than what the House was willing to spend.