Newswatch
Police, Fire, Courts

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Faulty valve cited in jet's
pressure fluctuations

WAILUKU >> Wide fluctuations in cabin pressure that prompted the pilot to make an emergency landing of an Aloha Airlines jet on Maui on Sunday evening was caused by a malfunction in a pressurization valve, an airline spokesman said yesterday.

The incident sent more than 20 people to the hospital for treatment of earaches.

An electronic device controlling the pressurization valve on the Boeing 737-200 was responsible for the malfunction.

"The part has been replaced, and the airplane is flying today," said Stu Glauberman, spokesman for the airline.

Flight 66 was carrying 118 passengers and five crew members on a 38-minute flight from Honolulu to Maui when the pressure began to fluctuate, he said. The pilot declared an emergency at 6:50 p.m., 25 minutes after leaving Honolulu, and the plane landed on Maui at 7:03 p.m.

"It shouldn't be described as a loss of pressure -- it was over pressure, under pressure," Glauberman said. "The pilot declared the emergency after trying to correct that."

---

BROKEN WATER MAIN FLOODS
STREETS NEAR AALA PARK

DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM A break in a 12-inch water main this morning closed all but one east-bound lane on King Street and one west-bound lane on Iwilei Road, next to Aala Park. The break occurred after 2 a.m. at the corner of King Street and Iwilei Road, flooding the roadway. Board of Water Supply pipe fitter Robert Utterdyke shoveled away debris from a trench where the water main broke. The trench is where a contractor was working to fit a "lateral" to the water main, possibly to feed a fire hydrant installation. Repairs were expected to take the rest of the day. Honolulu Board of Water Supply officials said no customers were affected by the break.

BACK TO TOP

---

|

Gandhi grandson calls on U.S. to seek peace in love

WAILUKU >> The grandson of Mahatma Gandhi said the United States should be looking within itself at why some people in the world hate it, rather than taking revenge in Afghanistan.

Arun Gandhi, spokesman for the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, said peace achieved at the point of a gun relies upon fear for obedience.

"The type of peace we are talking about is the peace that comes from love," Gandhi said.

Gandhi was a guest speaker Sunday night at the Sandalwood Country Club on Maui, in observance of "A Season for Peace and Nonviolence" from Jan. 30 through April 4. More than 200 people attended the event, sponsored by Unity Church of Maui.

The international observance, begun by the Gandhi Institute, marks the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi on Jan. 30 and Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4.

Arun Gandhi lived in South Africa and later spent a part of his youth living with his grandfather in India, as the country struggled to become independent from Great Britain.

|

Corrections and clarifications The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Managing Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at fbridgewater@starbulletin.com.

---

Police, Fire, Courts



By Star-Bulletin staff

Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers

HONOLULU

Female suspect sought in downtown bank heist

Honolulu police are still looking for a woman who robbed the main branch of Bank of Hawaii yesterday. Police said the suspect walked into the bank at 111 S. King St., approached a teller, raised her shirt and displayed a handgun before taking the cash and fleeing.

After the robbery at 12:40 p.m., witnesses said they saw the suspect run from the bank to the Financial Plaza of the Pacific Building, located next door, along Bishop Street.

Officers spent nearly four hours searching the 22-story building and located a handgun in the women's restroom but not the suspect.

The suspect is described as in her 30s to 40s, 5 feet 6 inches tall, 170 pounds, with a tan complexion and a heavy build.

It is the second Oahu bank robbery by a female suspect in six months.

LEEWARD OAHU

2 boys hurt in crash that crimps H-1 in Pearl City

A 7-year-old boy and an 11-year-old boy were in guarded condition at the Queen's Medical Center this morning after the car they were riding in was struck on the H-1 Freeway in Pearl City yesterday.

Police said the boys were in a car that had either stopped or stalled in the left east-bound lane of the freeway near the Waiawa Road overpass just before 3 p.m., when a van crashed into them. The drivers of the car and the van were not injured. Two other boys and a woman in the car were also taken to Queen's where they were treated and released. The car's occupants were not wearing seat belts.

Police said speeding by the driver of the van may have been a factor in the crash. Police closed three Honolulu-bound lanes of the freeway for several hours to conduct their accident investigation.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Public asked to identify recovered stolen property

South Kohala police are asking the public to identify stolen property taken from numerous homes in the Waikoloa area. Police recovered the items last weekend. They include men's and women's jewelry, a Sony PlayStation with eight games, 80 compact discs, women's clothing and cosmetics.

Police estimate the value of the recovered items, taken in five burglaries, at more than $7,500. Some of the still unidentified items include jewelry. South Kohala Patrol Officer Thomas Fratinardo asks that anyone who had jewelry taken from a residence in the Waikoloa area to call him at the South Kohala station at 887-3080.

Police have identified two juvenile suspects allegedly involved in the burglaries.