THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 24, 1995 TAG: 9506240326
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DANA PRIEST, THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
Three government agencies are investigating the Air Force's handling of inquiries into major plane crashes after a former top safety official alleged that commanders falsified files to avoid embarrassment and disciplinary action in more than two dozen cases, military officials say.
In one case under scrutiny, a transport plane crashed after the wife of a pilot allegedly was allowed to take the controls and the plane careened out of control.
In another, two Navy fighter pilots and a navigator together on a plane removed their clothes, helmets and oxygen masks and attempted to moon another plane's crew. They passed out and the plane crashed, killing them.
In both those incidents, the true causes of the crashes were covered up, said Alan Diehl, who was the Air Force's chief civilian safety official for seven years until he was involuntarily transferred out of the job in October. Diehl has raised questions about 30 cases, supporting his claims by providing investigators with internal documents gathered while he was still in his safety job. A summary of his report on the incidents was obtained by The Washington Post.
The Pentagon's Inspector General and Congress' General Accounting Office have opened their own investigations, based on Diehl's documentation. Concern about the cases also prompted Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ronald R. Fogelman to convene a ``blue ribbon'' panel to review the cases as well as the organization and competency of the safety office.
Fogelman said Thursday. His written statement said the Air Force had 18 major mishaps this year and 10 in the past two months.
In an interview, Diehl, who works at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, said of Fogelman's decision, ``It's a prudent move on his part.''
Diehl said he was prohibited by law from revealing details about many of the cases, including the dates and names of people involved. However, he said a major problem in the military's investigation of air mishaps is that, unlike in civilian aviation, there is no independent agency with specially trained technicians to conduct inquiries.
Diehl's study was first reported by Time magazine. His report detailed a case where a jet fighter accidentally hit trees during a landing, causing the pilot to eject. The pilot was then denied emergency medical care until he confessed his mistake to a commanding officer on the scene.
``Two aircraft on a very long-range exercise narrowly missed colliding with a foreign airliner,'' Diehl's report says. ``Both of these incidents appear to have been hushed up, which suggests just how bankrupt the (Air Force) safety program is in truth.''
In another incident, during the Persian Gulf War, a fighter jet crashed when an inexperienced pilot did not realize that another Air Force pilot was simulating an attack on his plane and he maneuvered out of the way, but crashed. His commander than refused to allow the wreckage to be brought back to his base for examination, and investigators were forced to work near enemy territory, where they came under an Iraqi Scud missile attack. The incident was listed improperly as a ``combat loss.''
In the case in which the transport plane crashed when a pilot's wife took the controls, the wife was one of several on board for a ``spousal orientation flight'' in which they were ``learning about their husbands' jobs,'' the report said. Investigators covered up the fact that the second pilot was not at the controls.
In the mooning incident, Diehl said, ``Navy records still conceal the real cause of this crash.''
Navy officials said Friday, however, that their investigation into the crash showed that it occurred when the pilot and navigator took off their helmets and oxygen masks, donned their cloth garrison caps and saluted pilots in a nearby plane who were taking pictures of them.
Navy spokesman Cmdr. Stephen Pietropaoli said it would be impossible, given the space constraints in the cockpit, for the pilots to have removed their flight suits. An autopsy report said the pilots were recovered fully clothed, he said.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT PLANE by CNB