May 1, 1993

In his first public show of strength in disciplining the military, Defense Secretary Les Aspin today relieved an Air Force general of his duties for mismanaging a troubled program to build a new cargo airplane. Mr. Aspin also ordered that two other Air Force generals and a senior civilian official involved in the purchase of the C-17 cargo plane be barred from any further involvement in buying new weapons.

When the B, D and Q trains lurched to a halt in Brooklyn during yesterday's morning rush, few of the 100,000 riders who were delayed up to two hours could have guessed the reason for their inconvenience. A section of copper cable had been stolen, disrupting signals and causing the delay. The transit police say this kind of theft is widespread not only in the subways but also along electrical and telephone lines. Drug addicts, the police say, are gnawing at the infrastructure to sell pieces of copper to scrap dealers for quick cash. 'We Are Going Crazy' As a result, there may be hundreds of spots where missing sections of cable threaten to bring subway lines to a halt, officials say. Because two or three copper cables are needed to carry electricity, sections of one cable can be cut away and remain undetected until enough is gone that a breakdown occurs when the strain of a morning rush begins, which is what happened yesterday at 8:25.

The Home Video column on Thursday misidentified a television series. It is "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

Because of an editing error, an article yesterday about allegations of bribery and patronage in a Bronx school district misidentified the client of a lawyer, Stanley Schlein. Mr. Schlein represents Lucy Cruz, a former member of the District 12 board, not Virginia Noville, who was accused of having bribed a board member to obtain a principal's job.

An article yesterday about a lawsuit by Coretta Scott King against Boston University over custody of the papers of her husband, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., referred incorrectly to a former adviser of his. The adviser, Harold H. Wachtel, is still living.