US may penalize Aeroflot for crossing touchy areas

The Soviet airline Aeroflot has until noon Wednesday (Nov. 18) to show why its flights to the United States should not be suspended for a week as a penalty for flying over sensitive areas of New England Nov. 8.

The Civil Aeronautics Board proposes halting Aeroflot service to the US from Nov. 21 through the 28th. In a letter to the CAB, however, Assistant Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger said that the Russians had filed flight plans showing the route deviations but that perhaps inexperienced air traffic controllers had failed to call for a correction in the flight plans.