RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 15 (AP) --A Saudi Arabian Air Force transport plane caught fire and plunged into the desert near Medina last night, killing all 89 soldiers and crew members aboard, the Defense Ministry said today. [ END OF FIRST PARAGRAPH ]

AT 16, BANDAR YEARNED to fly the combat jets of the Royal Saudi Air Force and was sent off to the British Royal Air Force College at Cranwell, Lincolnshire, from which he graduated in 1969. He completed his flight training in San Antonio. The crash landing of his F-5 interceptor in 1977 gave him back problems that have plagued him ever since. But it did not deter him from reaching proficiency in the cockpit of the F-15, the ultimate status symbol for a Saudi fighter pilot.