The State - News from Jan. 12, 1986

A federal appeals court in San Francisco has halted an investigation into the Dec. 23 crash of a small plane into a Concord shopping mall that killed six people and injured more than 70. Judge Mary Schroeder of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily prohibited testing of the engine by its manufacturer, Teledyne-Continental, and the National Transportation Safety Board, until the court decides whether to allow outside observers at the tests. The judge’s decision was made in response to a request by Dorothy Graham, widow of pilot James Graham, who said the engine could reveal information that would help defend the Graham estate against suits by victims of the crash.