WASHINGTON – Delphi Corp., the nation’s largest auto-parts company, filed for bankruptcy protection on Saturday, the latest casualty in an American auto industry that has been struggling with high labor costs and aggressive competition from foreign rivals. Delphi, of Troy, Mich., said it was forced to seek court protection under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code after failing to win labor concessions from the United Auto Workers union and after failing to restructure contracts with its biggest customer and former parent, General Motors Corp.
Virginia: Odor forces 757 to land
A Boeing 757 airliner en route from New York City to Miami made a precautionary landing at Washington Dulles International Airport Saturday night after smoke was reported on board, an airport spokesman said. American Airlines Flight 1393 landed safely in the early evening and taxied under its own power, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said. He said the passengers were all in good health. An airline spokesman characterized the problem as an electrical odor rather than smoke.
Louisiana: Amtrak resumes service
Amtrak resumed passenger rail service to New Orleans on Saturday, bringing mass ground transportation back to the city for the first time since Hurricane Katrina. The train called the City of New Orleans arrived with 29 passengers aboard, and was greeted by a handful of well-wishers, after leaving Chicago on Friday. An Amtrak spokesman said he expected more than 30 passengers to arrive today and that “the business will grow steadily but slowly over the next several weeks.”
Nevada: Hostile fire blamed
Military investigators have determined that a helicopter crash that killed five Army National Guardsmen in Afghanistan in September was the result of hostile fire, not an accident. “After talking to other people in the area and looking at the wreckage, the conclusion was that it was hostile fire,” a Nevada Army National Guard spokeswoman said Saturday. “It might have been a guy with a rifle who happened to take a lucky shot or an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade). We just don’t know,” she said.
California: Quake rocks state
An earthquake shook central California early Saturday about five miles northeast of San Simeon, home to the Hearst Castle. The magnitude-4.2 temblor hit at 5:17 a.m., according to a preliminary report from the U.S. Geological Survey. The San Luis Obispo County sheriff’s Cambria station said there were no injuries or reports of structural damage as a direct result of the quake.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
