Skilled foreigners are in high demand

American companies are so eager to hire highly skilled foreign workers that a cap on new visas has been reached within a matter of days.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Friday that it has received more than 85,000 applications from employers seeking visas for computer programmers, engineers, physicians and other educated workers with specialized skills. Of the total visas, 20,000 are set aside for people with graduate degrees from American universities.

Because the 85,000 limit was exceeded within five days of the April 1 opening date, a lottery will be held to distribute the visas.

Hawaiian Air flight makes a U-turn

An 8 a.m. Hawaiian Airlines flight to Los Angeles returned to Hono­lulu Airport on Sunday morning because of a possible engine problem.

A Hawaiian Airlines spokes­man said an engine oil filter indicator ligsht flashed about 15 minutes into the Boeing 767’s flight, forcing the pilot to turn the plane around as part of normal procedure.

The 258 passengers on Flight 10 boarded another plane and left for Los Angeles at about 11:15 a.m.

Technicians were inspecting the plane Sunday, but there was no immediate indication of the trouble.