Mechanic accused of intentionally damaging plane may avoid charges DENVER (AP) =97 A Frontier Airlines mechanic who was arrested after he=20 allegedly threw a wheel block into the engine of a plane preparing for=20 takeoff at Denver International Airport may not be criminally charged. A=20 preliminary hearing scheduled for Wednesday was continued until Feb. 18 so= =20 court officials have time to decide if Corydon Van Dyke Cochran, 44, is=20 eligible for pretrial diversion. Under the program, if Cochran adheres to=20 conditions set by the court, he will not face criminal charges, said U.S.=20 Attorney's spokesman Jeff Dorschner. He said the court will decide the=20 pretrial diversion conditions. Cochran could still face sanctions with the= =20 Federal Aviation Administration because he is an FAA licensed mechanic.=20 According to an arrest affidavit, Cochran wanted to prevent the Boeing 737= =20 from departing Jan. 1 because he feared it was unsafe after being hit by=20 lightning on an earlier flight. Federal agents arrested Cochran, and he was= =20 charged with destruction of an aircraft. Cochran has since been on leave,=20 but a Frontier Airlines spokeswoman would not say if he was still being=20 paid. The plane was removed from service to repair minor damage in its=20 engine and resumed flying the following day. Cochran told other workers=20 that the plane, scheduled to fly to Dallas, needed a lightning strike=20 inspection because it had been struck Tuesday en route to Tampa, Fla. Other Frontier workers apparently gave the plane a visual inspection and=20 cleared it for takeoff but did not perform a mechanical inspection. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: www.pichemas.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************