March 24, 1992

The Swiss food giant Nestle appears to have won control of Perrier, ending a three-month battle with the Agnelli family of Italy for control of the world's leading mineral water company. "I can confirm that there is an agreement between the various parties, and that its details will be revealed imminently," said Sylvie Simphal, a spokeswoman for the French food group BSN, which allied with Nestle in the tortuous struggle for control of Source Perrier S.A.

Robert Spear found himself boarding the plane unexpectedly when the intensifying snowstorm ruled out his original flight. As the jetliner taxied down the runway in the blustery snow, some sixth sense told him to cinch his seat belt a little tighter, that this would be no ordinary flight. At the last moment, a ticket attendant who recognized an actor, Richard Lawson, cheerfully promoted him to first class, one of those little courtesies that always tickled him. This time the gesture may have saved his life.

METRO DIGEST THE CRASH AT LA GUARDIA FEW ANSWERS FOUND IN PLANE WRECKAGE Federal investigators began sifting through the charred shell of USAir Flight 405, looking for clues why it veered off a snowy runway as it tried to take off from La Guardia Airport. Unanswered yesterday were such questions as whether the plane had been properly de-iced, whether its flaps were in the right position, whether an engine tore off, and whether the victims drowned or suffocated in the fire. A1.

Libya's United Nations representative said today that two Libyans accused of responsibility for the downing of a Pan Am jet over Scotland in 1988 would be handed over to the Arab League. The move was apparently an attempt to avert United Nations Security Council sanctions, and it could set off a chain of events leading to a trial of the two Libyans in the United States or Britain.

The Supreme Court agreed today to resolve an escalating legal dispute over what requirements taxpayers who do some of their work at home must meet to qualify for a home-office deduction. The question, which the Justices will not decide until next year, pits the Tax Court against the Internal Revenue Service. The I.R.S. has long regarded home-office deductions with suspicion as an area of abuse.