London - Three people died today when a helicopter crashed in a field in Gloucestershire, the Air Accident Investigation Board said Saturday.

The private Gazelle helicopter came down and burst into flames near Langley Hill Farm in Winchcombe near Cheltenham, some 150 kilometres west of London, at about midday.

Witnesses said there was heavy fog at the time of the crash, but no cause for the crash could be determined as yet.

Rome - A consortium of private Italian investors on Friday made a binding offer to purchase the state's controlling stake in struggling airline Alitalia, according to a consortium statement cited in news reports.

The offer was presented to Alitalia's bankruptcy administrator, Augusto Fantozzi a few hours before a deadline at midnight local time (2300 GMT).

The bid came after talks between the Compagnia Aerea Italiana (Italian Air Company), or CAI, consortium, and unions representing Alitalia employees.

Helsinki - Finnish flag carrier Finnair on Friday said higher fuel costs and lower ticket prices contributed to a "weak third quarter."

The group posted a pre-tax loss of 22 million euros (28 million dollars), compared to a pre-tax profit of 59.9 million euros for the corresponding business period in 2007.

Turnover increased 2.7 per cent to 559 million euros in the quarter, the carrier said.

San Francisco - Search teams have found bones and a driver's license with Steve Fossett's name near the site where the millionaire's crashed plane was discovered in eastern California, officials said Thursday.

Found were a pair of tennis shoes, credit cards and Fossett's Illinois state driver's license as well as bones, which are believed to be human and were sent for DNA testing, Madera County Sheriff John Anderson told a press conference.

Berlin - DBA, an airline which pioneered competition in Germany, is to cease operations at the end of next month, its owner, Air Berlin, said Thursday.

The move will complete DBA's absorption into Air Berlin, which operates 124 planes and is Germany's second-biggest carrier after Lufthansa.

The management and ground staff of DBA have already been wound up, with functions taken over by the parent.

When open-skies policies came to the European Union, British Airways established the line as Deutsche BA in 1992 to challenge flag carrier Lufthansa, which had been the sole major airline flying German domestic routes.

But it was not a success and was sold 11 years later for a token price to Hans Rudolf Woehrl, a businessman.

Kiev - A senior Ukrainian aviation official said Iran intends to purchase and later produce a licensed version of a Ukraine's Antonov 148 mid-range passenger jet, the Interfax news agency reported on Wendesday.

Dmitro Kiva, chairman of the Kiev-headquartered Antonov aerospace factory, said Iran "will fully participate" in the subsequent production of the aircraft.

The An-148 is a twin-engine high-wing passenger plane designed for operation at rough airfields. Ukraine developed the aircraft during the 1990s and certified the single flying prototype in February 2007.