World Notes: Jan. 27, 1986

THE PHILIPPINES Under the Weather

For years there have been whispers that President Ferdinand Marcos is suffering from a degenerative kidney disease that requires him to undergo regular dialysis. Although Marcos, 68, has put in some taxing days on the stump, his campaigning for the Feb. 7 election, in which he is being challenged by Corazon Aquino, 52, has revived the rumors about his health. He has canceled a number of public appearances, blaming "unpredictable weather." Then on Friday, before a speech in Pangasinan province, Marcos' left hand began to bleed, and he had to be treated onstage by a doctor and nurse. On Saturday in Calapan, Marcos wore a large bandage on his left hand and adhesive strips on his right. He insisted that the bleeding had come from being scratched by overeager supporters trying to shake his hands.

As if that were not trouble enough, Marcos' campaign plane nearly collided on Saturday with an air force plane carrying some of his security guards that was about to land at the opposite end of came same airstrip. Flying in clear skies, the two craft came within 3,000 ft. of each other before the military plane veered out of the way, almost hitting a grove of palm trees.

Part of the adventure for tourists who visit the ancient Mayan city of Tikal is in getting there. The site's famous ruins are buried deep in the Guatemalan jungle, and the 40-min. flight from Guatemala City affords sightseers spectacular views of the lush terrain. But last Saturday morning that journey ended in tragedy as a twin-engine Caravelle operated by the private carrier Aerovias crashed on its way to the airport at Santa Elena, 37 miles south of Tikal. Early reports put the number killed at 90, including six Americans. Some of the passengers had apparently traveled to Guatemala for the swearing-in of President Vinicio Cerezo Arévalo, the country's first civilian leader in 16 years.

The accident, the first major crash in 1986, increased the concern about air safety aroused by the series of catastrophes that made 1985 the deadliest in the history of civil aviation. The number of people killed in accidents in 1985 was nearly 2,000, far above the previous record of 1,229 in 1974. Aerovias officials had rented the jet to handle increased demand for trips to Tikal. Air-traffic controllers at Santa Elena said the pilot gave no indications that his plane was in trouble before it went down.

The flattop is 1,000 ft. long and weighs 65,000 tons, a monster by Soviet standards but considerably smaller than the U.S.S. Eisenhower (1,092 ft., 94,000 tons). Even so, the nuclear-powered vessel launched last month at the Nikolayev Shipyard on the Black Sea is a notable Soviet innovation: the country's first conventional aircraft carrier. The ship sports both an angled flight deck for fixed-wing aircraft, as on all U.S. carriers, and a ski-jump ramp, similar to those on British carriers, for launching short-takeoff aircraft. Existing Soviet carrier-type vessels, like the 37,000-ton Minsk, are equipped only for short-takeoff planes and for helicopters. Revealing the Soviet launching last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger said that the carrier eventually will enable the Soviets "to engage in conflict and aggression much farther from their shores."