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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 ↗

“Anchorage”38 pages

  • p. 3 …Statements of air traffic controllers at Anchorage Center. 11. Investigator statement, Form 1600-32, Jarr.e…
  • p. 4 …Box 14 Anchorage. Alaska 995 13 (907) 271-5296 CONTACT: PAUL STEUCKE FM RELEASES DOCUMENTS ON…
  • p. 5 …5 = Controller positicn, Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center Dl5 = Controller positicn, Anchorage Air Route Traffic…
  • p. 7 …Ah-Anchorage Center; Japan Air one six tw::> eight, request direct ah-Talkeetna. Japan Air sixteen…
  • p. 8 …At your ' discretion proceed direct Talkeetna, Jay one -0..0 five Anchorage. (J125 = air route) 0240…
  • p. 16 Paul Steucke FAA, Public Affairs Officer Alaskan Region 701 C Street, Box 14 Anchorage, Alaska 995…
  • p. 17 …JAL Captain Kenju Terauchi at JAL Operations, Anchorage, Alaska. The interview was conducted for the purpose…
  • p. 19 …minutes before you called • Before I contact Anchorage Center Ah ah, okay Okay fourth question, what…
  • p. 34 …Terauchi This point, so we contact Anchorage Center here, so ah two or three minutes, proceed…
  • p. 36 • JA~ } A I R LINES DISTRICT OFFICE OF OPERATIONS ANCHORAGE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT P 0 . BOX 190048…
  • p. 38 …This special flight was to import special French wine from Iceland to Anchorage for approximately a…
  • p. 40 ~poge s~ Anchorage Center when we reach above Pottat(sp?) where Alaska Territorial Air begins. Pottat…
  • p. 41 …The First Officer, Tameto(?), called the Anchorage Center and asked to report to us if there…
  • p. 44 …We did not report this action to the Anchorage Center. Honestly, we were simply· breathtaken. The…
  • p. 45 …Again, we beaan communicating with the Anchorage Center. We eaid that we could see a light…
  • p. 47 …Alas! there was a silhouette of aj "Anchorage : . I We must run away quickly!sisantic spaceship…
  • p. 48 …About the same time a United Airline passenger aircraft which left Anchorage to Fairbanks flew into…
  • p. 49 …About the same time a United Airline passenger aircraft which left Anchorage to Fairbanks flew into…
  • p. 50 …150 miles (Approximately 276 kilometers) away from Anchorage. It comprised approximately 60 minutes of flight time…
  • p. 51 …Officer Takanori Tamefuji at the Federal Building, Anchorage, Alaska. The interview was conducted for the purpose…
  • p. 70 …the incident United Air • Right ah, from Anchorage. Hum, huh . . • And we can ... what's that…
  • p. 71 …Beckner This was in the newspaper here in Anchorage, for example. And this shows a similiar…
  • p. 80 PERSONNEL STATEMENT FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center January 6, 1987 The following…
  • p. 81 .· "' PERSONNEL STATEMENT FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center ,,,,----...... ' ( i (", " ~ i The following is…
  • p. 82 PERSONNEL STATEMENT FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center January 9, 1986 The following…
  • p. 83 PERSONNEL STATEMENT FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center January 7, 1987 The following…
  • p. 84 PERSONNEL STATEMENT FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINSTRATION Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center January 9, 1987 The following…
  • p. 85 PERSONNEL STATEMENT FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center January 9, 1987 The following…
  • p. 86 PERSONNEL STATEMENT FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center January 7, 1987 The following…
  • p. 87 PERSONNEL STATEMENT FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center January 9, 1987 The following…
  • p. 88 …They then preceded to Anchorage.,..i);ld the lights were still visible until arourrl 40 miles…
  • p. 94 …I NTERVIEWED/R EVI EWE D ON !_b\7~_} 7-1 ~986- - - __ , AT Anchorage, Alaska -----------· BY…
  • p. 100 …The flight crew was i nterviewed by FAA inspectors when they landed at Anchorage. The FAA…
  • p. 101 …which was conducted when they landed at Anchorage, that the aircraft flight path was north of…
  • p. 103 …Box 14 Anchorage . Alaska 995 13 (907) 27, ·5296 LIST OF RECORDS AVAILABLE ORDER FORM for…
  • p. 104 …manager -of flight standards district office in Anchorage. (19 pages) Written Statement and Drawing by Captain…
  • p. 105 …1 page (map) Personnel statements. (Statements by seven air traffic control specialists at Anchorage Center.) (8…
  • p. 107 …PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE, AAL-5 701 C STREET, BOX 14 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99513 •
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

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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.