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Australian prime minister's plane makes emergency landing

10.01 a.m. ET (1413 GMT) June 9, 2000

BRISBANE, Australia (AP)  A jet carrying Prime Minister John Howard and opposition leader Kim Beazley made an emergency landing Friday when a warning light showed  wrongly  that an engine was on fire.

The politicians were returning from the funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi when the light began flashing, indicating flames in one of the Boeing 707's four engines.

The pilot believed the warning was "spurious,'' but he shut off the engine and demanded a full contingent of emergency vehicles on the ground at the nearest airport, Brisbane, on Australia's east coast, an air force spokesman said on condition of anonymity.

Howard's flight had suffered earlier delays in leaving Tokyo, where strong winds had made a takeoff attempt seem risky.

The emergency night-time landing was safe and Howard continued to Sydney aboard another aircraft. Officials later determined that the warning had been a false alarm.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/0609/i_ap_0609_50.sml

-- (Dee360Degree@aol.com), June 09, 2000