10/31/99 -- 9:51 AM

              FAA issued unconfirmed bomb alert for
                           New York, Los Angeles

          WASHINGTON (AP) - A month ago, the Federal Aviation
          Administration issued an alert to airline and airport security
          personnel after agencies received an unconfirmed warning that a
          bomb would ``soon be used'' on a flight departing from Los Angeles
          or Kennedy airport in New York.

          Officials said they had no reason to believe the disappearance of an
          EgyptAir flight on Sunday was caused by sabotage. Investigators
          were attempting to determine the fate of Flight 990 after takeoff
          from Kennedy International Airport. The flight originated Saturday in
          Los Angeles.

          Many aviation warnings are investigated each month by federal
          agencies and the Sept. 24 alert said: ``At this time, FAA has no
          information to corroborate the statements in the letter and assess
          them as lacking credibility.''

          Asked about the alert, David Leavy, spokesman for National
          Security Council, told The Associated Press, ``I don't want to
          speculate on this until we have information.''

          A U.S. intelligence official said at midmorning Sunday that agencies
          were pursuing the possibility of sabotage, but, ``There's nothing to
          immediately point toward that.'' Another official said there had been
          no recent threat that seemed relevant to the EgyptAir
          disappearance.

          In a Sept. 24 ``information circular,'' the FAA said several U.S.
          agencies received a warning by letter in August ``that a bomb or
          explosive device with `spiral expansion' would soon be used on a
          flight departing from either Los Angeles airport or New York's JFK
          airport.''

          The circular said the informant ``identified himself as Luciano
          Porcari,'' and noted that ``an individual with this same name
          hijacked an Iberian Boeing 727 during a flight from Barcelona to
          Palma de Mallorca, Spain, on March 14, 1977,'' before being
          overpowered and arrested.

          The alert said the writer said ``three of these devices were
          smuggled into the United States between 1992 and 1993, and that
          the devices cannot be detected on a metal detector because of the
          PVC (plastic) composition.''

          The alert was in effect until Oct. 30. EgyptAir Flight 990 departed
          Los Angeles on Saturday, Oct. 30, and stopped at John F. Kennedy
          International Airport, bound for Cairo. The plane took off from JFK at

          1:19 a.m. Sunday en route to Cairo and disappeared from radar
          screens about 40 minutes later.

          At a news conference in Cairo, the head of EgyptAir, Mohammed
          Fahim Rayan, said he had no information of any direct threat against
          his airline.

          Last month, the FAA offered no comment on its alert.

          ``The FAA often sends out information on threats to ensure that
          airlines can properly implement security measures,'' agency
          spokeswoman Rebecca Trexler said at the time.

          ``We do want to assure the public that the FAA works with law
          enforcement and intelligence agencies of the United States and
          other countries and we closely evaluate all threats and take
          appropriate security measures as warranted,'' Trexler added.

          The FAA circular said a Luciano Porcari was sentenced to 10 years
          in prison on Jan. 25, 1979, but later escaped. In August 1981, he
          threatened to hijack another aircraft unless he was paid $250,000.
          He was subsequently arrested in Italy and sentenced to nine years
          in prison on Jan. 27, 1982. The circular said he was released on
          Aug. 12, 1982, and his whereabouts were unknown.

          In the warning received by letter ``to several U.S. government
          agencies,'' the informant ``claimed that between 1975 and 1983
          eight of the devices were manufactured, that only three remained
          and that one was in the U.S.

          He also said he had warned various U.S. authorities about the
          device before the July 1996 explosion of TWA Flight 800 off Long
          Island and the September 1998 crash of Swissair Flight 111 off
          Newfoundland.

          The TWA plane had taken off from Kennedy airport en route to Paris,
          while the Swissair plane had taken off from Kennedy en route to
          Geneva.

          After an extensive investigation, authorities ruled out a criminal act

          in the TWA crash. They now believe there was an explosion for an
          undetermined reason in the plane's center fuel tank. The Swissair
          plane crashed 16 minutes after the pilots reported smoke in the
          cockpit. Authorities have not determined a cause but are focusing
          on the airplane's wiring and insulation material.