Package compiled for FAA managers

FAA via National Archives / The Black Vault · 122 pages · text from the file's own layer

This package was compiled by the FAA Alaskan Region Public Affairs Office in Anchorage and sent to FAA managers with a memo from Paul Steucke dated March 5, 1987. It gathers material on the November 17, 1986 sighting by the crew of Japan Air Lines flight 1628: a news release, pilot and controller transcripts, crew interviews and radar analysis. The FAA concluded that it could not confirm the event. It attributed the second radar target to a split, uncorrelated return from the JAL Boeing 747 and planned no further investigation.

Open the PDF at page 15 Original source ↗

“Ç.”30 pages

p. 2 …Sincerely , ~--- ~ \- ~. ~ ' . ) ,c___ ) ~~ Paul Steucke Public Affairs Officer
p. 3 …Prepared by FAA Public Affairs Office AAL-5 Alaskan Region 701 C St., Box 14, Anchorage…
p. 4 …Office of Public Affairs Alaskan Region 701 C Street. Box 14 Anchorage. Alaska 995 13 (907…
p. 5 …Ya, could you (ROC:C) look ah, approximately forty miles south of Fort Yukon, there should…
p. 7 …23 Rcx:c 0237 : 25 Dl5 0237 : 29 Dl5 0237 : 30 ROCC 0237 : 32 Dl5 Japan…
p. 12 Paul Steucke FAA Public Affairs 701 C Street, Box 14 Anch. AK 99513 ~·1 arch 5…
p. 13 …ent up t oward the ai r c raft (pri ma r y si gnal) r…
p. 16 Paul Steucke FAA, Public Affairs Officer Alaskan Region 701 C Street, Box 14 Anchorage, Alaska 995…
p. 37 …7--'i~ ....... ,c: ,,_ '1~,,,~ ~e,, 1l:\ -
p. 38 …The temperature of Kefurabik Airport in November is approximately maximum of 3 degrees C. and the…
p. 74 …Be c kner: Why could he not take any pictures? Ts ukuba: We ll, his camera…
p. 81 …Also a military C-130 southbound to EDF from EIL advised he had plenty of fuel…
p. 85 …gave this information to the Was hington D. C. ROC. Air Traffic Control Specialist Anchorage ARTCC
p. 88 OEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FC .. AL AVIATION AONIHIST .. ATIOH cm November 17, I respond.ed to…
p. 89 …Alaska ll'ILE NO. - - ____ , ----------· FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY. (Puhll c 11¥0/lol>Jllty ID lie•-
p. 91 AT ~TttT ,. '. . "" -· ' -------.1 ("....,.--- 0 . ( :T" ;'.J , ~ :. ... " 'l.. ------' / .•- . . - . ~ - ~ . ~ C" · - . ;... . .. ~ .. II I lIfI I .... .. ......... ... ........... / / ) / I .. ; . ··. ~ -:.--;
p. 92 …HOURS Ille 1 o oY I 4• ~~~~c"'v~Do~ DA~=~~s,. oir CARRIER, OPERATOR, AIRPORT…
p. 94 …captain Terauchi stated the cargo only flight had departed Reykjavik, Icelal"l.C.. captain Terauchi stated…
p. 95 …t•4 ,ILENO·-- - _ --~- _ -· FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY. (PuWlc .,.11ow11,., "'k ._ ,_,_. lllMler s u. s. c. 552}
p. 96 …OR A IR c RA FT REG Is- t---.r-6-·_R_E_s_u_L…
p. 100 Paul Steucke, FAA Alaskan Region 701 C St . Box 14 Anc h. AK 99513 March 5…
p. 102 …Al askan R eg i on February 21, 1987 70 1 C S tr ee 1…
p. 103 …Ofhce of Public Affus Alaskan Region 701 C Street. Box 14 Anchorage . Alaska 995 13 (907…
p. 107 …PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE, AAL-5 701 C STREET, BOX 14 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99513 •
p. 112 …91 APPENDIX C: RESOURCES SCOPE .......................................................................... 92 List of Tables Textual Documents ... ............. ... .... ........... .... ... .................. .... ..... .. .................... ... ..... .................. ... 37 Oversized Records ......... .... ........ .. ................. .............. ................ ....... .................... ..... ........ .. ... ..... 38 Photographs…
p. 116 …cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) are combined to fonn black. CMYK mode files are…
p. 119 …We have c:hosen to categorize It In both by its deterministic and stochastic behaviors. Technical…
p. 120 …Delta C, Delta H 0 : Exposure Index, Standard units: gamma ( unitless) Units ( • ) : Delta C, Delta H…
p. 121 …1, ISO 16067-2, I SO 15524) c: MTF - Modulation Transfer Function-~~ ·g.~ definition : A spatial…
p. 122 …over the field ot view view relative to the average of units: % deviation in SFR :§ ·c…

ANALYSIS OF UNCORRELATED PRIMARY
AND BEACON TARGETS
(JAL-1628, 11 / 17 / 86 AKST)
Approximately 61 minutes of data was extracted from the EARTS CDR
printouts relating to the November 18 incident involving JAL-1628
and the alleged UFO sighting.
Review of the data involving this incident did not show any
abnormalities that could be associated with any type of target as
indicated by the pilot of JAL-1628.
Radar returns from the aircraft and surrounding terrain vary with
the different segments of the flight, but are considered normal
for the area.
Returns relating to the incident can be categorized as three
types: primary radar reinforced by a beacon reply (primary radar
returns and beacon returns are both evident in the same 1/4 mile
range cell), beacon only reply and beacon with an associated
radar reply. Seventy-two percent of the replies were radar with
beacon reinforcement (same range cell) which is normal for the
Murphy dome radar system.
Approximately 25 percent were beacon only and of those that
registered as beacon only, 90 percent of those had a primary only
reply within 1/8 of a mile, either ahead or behind the beacon
target (5 behind, 12 ahead).
Th ese uncorrelated primary returns are not uncommon, due
critical timing associated with the delay adjustments
aircraft transponder for beacon systems and the
correlation circuitry within the radar equipment.
to the
in the
target
Whe n an aircraft is being interrogated as it passes through the
beginning of adjacent range cells the intricate timing between
t h e t wo systems very often is off just enough to declare both a
beacon and a radar target in different range cells, resulting in
uncorrelated radar replies.
Th e data derived from the JAL-1628 flight is representative of
t h e data from another aircraft in the same general area and is
con s i dered normal.
February 25, 1987
-us .'"Dennis R. Simantel
ZAN-AAL-ARTCC

Cited by

Japan Air Lines Flight 1628: The Alaska Mothership 1986

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Document, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 122 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.