Was the alert a reflection of tension after the bombing attack Sunday that killed two airmen in a nearby Dutch village?

But the planes were buffeted by a storm and ran low on fuel, forcing crash-landings or bailouts beyond the landing strips that killed three airmen.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was frustrated that the Saudis were not doing more to investigate a truck bombing that had killed 19 American airmen.

The investigation of the Dhahran bombing, which killed 19 airmen, is at a dead end.

It was the most serious aerial confrontation between the countries since North Korea shot down an unarmed American reconnaissance plane in 1969, killing 31 American airmen.

The bombing of an air base in the eastern city of Al Khobar, killed 19 American airmen and wounded hundreds more.

An investigation of 1998 crash that killed a dozen airmen called the unit stressed out by constant combat deployments without adequate rest.

So far the Pentagon's handling of the terrorist bombing in Dhahran that killed 19 American airmen and wounded 500 has followed a dismally familiar script.

Officials cited an undisclosed security threat to the area, where Communist rebels killed two American airmen last month.

In June, a bomb exploded outside an apartment complex in Saudi Arabia, killing 19 American airmen and injuring 500.