THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 11, 1997 TAG: 9702110220
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
LENGTH: 93 lines
The Air Force suspended all training flights over the Gulf of Mexico and the East Coast on Monday, after new reports surfaced of close encounters between F-16s and commercial aircraft over New Mexico and Texas.
Word of the incidents, both of which occurred Friday, stoked a controversy kindled when a pair of F-16s flew near a commercial jet off New Jersey on Wednesday while under the control of a radar facility at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach. Only one of the fighters passed close enough for concern.
Along with a close call Friday between four other F-16s and a plane off the Maryland coast, the new episodes brought to four the number of encounters between the highly maneuverable fighter jet and airliners over a three-day period.
Air Force officials were at a loss to explain the rash of incidents. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incidents.
An Air Force spokeswoman, Maj. Felecia Tavares, said the training suspension will last until active duty, Reserve and National Guard units using military training areas complete a review of rules for avoiding contact with civilian aircraft. For most units, the review is expected to be done by today, she added.
The first of the newly reported incidents occurred Friday afternoon about 50 miles west of Clovis, N.M., when an F-16 from Cannon Air Force Base passed within 300 feet vertically - but 3.5 miles horizontally - of an American Airlines MD-80.
Tavares said investigators have determined that this F-16 had strayed from its assigned airspace and got close enough to trigger the American Airlines jet's collision avoidance system. Civilian and military controllers gave both aircraft new instructions and both adjusted course to avoid any collision.
American Airlines spokesman John Hotard said the plane descended after a cockpit warning sounded, but that the drop ``was such that the passengers in the back probably didn't even know it.
``The cockpit crew did see two F-16s,'' he said. ``This was not what you would call a near-miss or anything.''
In the other incident, about two hours later, an Air National Guard F-16 from Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio came within 300 feet vertically - but 4.63 miles horizontally - of a Northwest Airlines Airbus, about 70 miles southwest of Palacios, Texas.
Tavares said controllers apparently gave the pilot two sets of directions about what altitude he should assume. One set placed him too close to the Northwest jet.
She said the F-16 had been participating in an exercise with Canadian F/A-18s, other F-16s from Kelly, and AWACS airborne controllers.
Northwest spokeswoman Marta Laughlin said the Northwest pilots, en route from Mexico City to Detroit, could see the F-16 the entire time and were never concerned.
Reports of the incidents fueled an imbroglio that began last Wednesday, when two New Jersey Air National Guard fighters shared a small chunk of airspace with a Nations Air 727 bound for New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
One of the F-16s closed to within 1,000 feet of the airliner and prompted the bigger plane to take evasive action.
At the time, the fighters were under the control of a radar facility at Oceana - the Fleet Area Control and Surveillance Facility - that provides air traffic control for 94,000 square miles of offshore training areas used by the military.
The facility's two golf-ball-like radar domes are familiar sights to motorists on Oceana Boulevard.
Outcry over that episode got a boost on Friday, when four District of Columbia Air National Guard F-16s drew close to an American Eagle commuter plane off Maryland.
But Stuart Matthews, president of the Washington-based Flight Safety Foundation, a group that monitors aircraft safety issues, suggested Monday that authorities may have overreacted to both East Coast incidents.
In Wednesday's encounter, there is no evidence the planes were in any real danger of colliding, he said. The 727 wouldn't have even been aware of the F-16 if the military jet's transponder had been switched off, he observed.
The F-16 pilot in that case approached the 727 from the rear and kept it in sight before breaking off when ordered to change course by the controller in Virginia Beach.
Matthews said the F-16 pilot needs to explain why he decided to approach the Nations Air jet after being told of its presence and identifying it on radar.
The Navy controller also may have to explain why his initial warning to the F-16 mentioned only ``working traffic'' in the area, when more specific information was available.
``It does seem a bit scant,'' Matthews said of the controller's advice, though more details were radioed to the F-16 pilot before he closed in.
The New York Times seconded that view Sunday, reporting that investigators likely would place partial blame for the encounter on the Navy controller. MEMO: This story was compiled from reports by The Associated Press and
staff writer Earl Swift.
KEYWORDS: U.S AIR FORCE U.S. NAVY TRAINING FLIGHTS PLANE
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