He said that inspectors were investigating the accident last night and that the ride would be closed until they determined it was safe.

The company has seldom been out of the headlines since the announcement last month that two Government-appointed inspectors would be investigating reported share irregularities.

The commission asked the inspectors general for the Defense and Transportation Departments to investigate whether these false statements were made deliberately.

Pakistan is concerned that inspectors searching for germ weapons might investigate its nuclear weapons sites.

The inspector general investigates allegations of corruption, fraud and other wrongdoing in state government.

For example, it said, inspectors investigated 47,124 complaints in 2004, reflecting an increase of 45 percent over the number investigated in 1999.

Indeed, they point out, inspectors are investigating dozens of prestigious university hospitals for fraud.

Moreover, weeks and months have often passed before inspectors have investigated pushcarts blamed for illness, those reports show.

An inspector from the state's division of Homeland Security investigated as a result of the protest and found no major safety violations.

Ice on the wings is one of several possibilities Federal inspectors were investigating as a cause of that accident.