President Manuel Zelaya said that Honduras would create a civilian airport for commercial jets on a U.S. military airfield, diverting traffic from Tegucigalpa's notoriously dangerous airport following a deadly crash. Zelaya, who visited the Palmerola military airfield on Saturday, said the new airport would be ready within 60 days. In the meantime, large planes will land in San Pedro Sula, the country's second largest city, about 112 miles north of the capital, he said. U.S. Ambassador to Honduras Charles A. Ford welcomed the traffic at Palmerola, which is now largely used for drug surveillance planes, but warned that past agreements must be honored.

"The president can order the use of Palmerola when he wants, but certain accords and protocols must be followed," Ford told local radio.

Planes were blocked from landing at Tegucigalpa's Toncontin airport Saturday, a day after a TACA airline jet skidded off the runway, across a busy road and slammed into an embankment. The crash killed five people and injured 65.

Investigators from France, El Salvador and the United States were due to arrive to begin a probe that could last a month or more, TACA airliner chief executive Roberto Kriete told The Associated Press.

The airport will remain closed until next week, when it will again receive helicopters and small planes of up to 42 passengers.

The dead from the plane were identified as Salvadoran pilot Cesare D'Antonio, Nicaraguan banker Harry Brautigam, and Jeanne Chantal, wife of the Brazilian ambassador in Honduras. Two Honduran university students died when the car they were driving on a nearby street was crushed by the plane.

The flight was on a Los Angeles-San Salvador-Tegucigalpa route and was scheduled to continue on to Miami.

TACA's president in El Salvador, Alfredo Schildknecht, said the pilot aborted the first landing attempt due to poor visibility.

There have been calls for years to replace the aging Toncontin airport, whose short runway, primitive navigation equipment and neighboring hills make it one of the world's more dangerous international airports.

The airport was built in 1948 with a runway less than 5,300 feet long - shorter than that of a small field such as Municipal Airport in Goldsboro, N.C.

The altitude of 3,300 feet forces pilots to use more runway on landings and takeoffs than they would at sea level. And because of the hills, pilots have to make an unusually steep approach.

Palmerola, which was used by the United States during the Central American civil wars of the 1980s, has the best runway in the country at 8,850 feet long and 165 feet wide and now is used mostly for drug surveillance planes. Also known as the Soto Cano base, Palmerola is about 30 miles north of the capital. It was built by Washington in 1984 for $30 million.

Written By FREDDY CUEVAS

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