International Jumbo pilot was asked not to report incident

Press, 13 July 1987, Page 10

International Jumbo pilot was asked not to report incident

NZPA-Reuter New York

The pilot of a jumbo jet with 399 passengers that was involved in a nearcollision with another airliner over the Atlantic was asked by other pilots not to report the incident but refused, the Continental Airlines said. A Continental Airlines spokesman, Bruce Hicks, said suggestions of a cover-up were made in radio exchanges between pilots after an aircraft of the Delta Airlines that was 100 km off course missed the Continental plane by 30m.

"There were several requests and each time our crew adamantly refused,” he said.

A Delta Airlines spokesman declined to comment.

The incident on Wednesday was the first of two near-collisions reported over the Atlantic

in 24 hours that heightened fears of an aviation disaster during the peak summer travel season.

On Thursday, a Pan American World Airways Airbus A-310 and a Viasa Venezuelan DC-10 jumbo flying in opposite directions came within 400 m of each other at the same altitude 1400 km south of New York, a Federal Aviation Authority spokesman said. Both incidents are under investigation by officials of the authority and the National Transportation Safety Board, a Government agency that issues safety improvement recommendations.

Neither body would comment pending completion of the inquiries, but federal air safety regulators said the near-misses, although worrying, did not mean that United States airspace was unsafe.

The Continental Airlines

spokesman said American Airlines and Pan American jets were in the area at the time and conversations between the pilots of the four planes were recorded by a United States Air Force plane also in the vicinity. The Defence Department said the tape had been turned over to the National Transportation Safety Board. The Continental Boeing, carrying 399 passengers and 19 crew, was flying from Gatwick Airport, London, to Newark, New Jersey, and the Delta Lockheed L-1011, carrying 153 passengers and a crew of 12, was flying from Gatwick to Cincinnati.

Officials said the flight paths for the two aircraft were 100 km apart. Mr Hicks, speaking from Houston, said he “was not absolutely certain” who raised the pos-

sibility of a cover-up but the “Washington Post” newspaper reported that it was first suggested by the Delta crew. Mr Hicks said that each time a cover-up was suggested the Continental crew rejected it. "Our guys said ‘Of course we’re going to report it. There’s no question of that’,” he said.

Mr Hicks said that after being pressed repeatedly the Continental pilot replied that he had to file a report because the passengers had been able to read the markings on the Delta jet and were very upset.

“The pilot said ‘Even if we didn’t want to report it, everybody in the back saw it’,” he said. “Our crew reported the incident promptly to the company and the F.A.A. and reported the attempted cover-up,” Mr Hicks added. “There

would have been no reason for them not to do so other than peer pressure.”

The “New York Times” reported on Saturday that the Continental jet radioed the Delta jet and said: "Hey Delta, what are you doing down there?” The Delta jet asked what Continental was talking about, but then realised it was on the wrong path, it said.

The “New York Times” said the Continental crew was asked if it planned to report the near collision. This was followed by a transmission to the effect that: “Nobody knows about it except us, you idiots,” it said. The two planes were under the jurisdiction of Gander, Newfoundland air traffic control at the time and the incident is also being investigated by the Canadian Aviation Safety Board.