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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.
“The Times”52 pages
- p. 4 …They determined that a second radar target
near the JAL flight at the time of the…
- p. 5 AAL-5, FAA
February 4, 1987
SELEX:TED PORI'IONS OF TRANSCRIPI'IOO
~ THE INCIDENI' INVOLVING…
- p. 7 …Approach center (Fairbanks FAA tower) on the sixty one line.
Approach.
Look at your radar. We…
- p. 8 …Sir, the military
radar advises they do have a primary target in trail of you
at…
- p. 10 …see the traffic any long-er.
Affinnative.
Okay sir, we're searchi.rXJ this time, we…
- p. 15 …Th ese uncorrelated primary returns are not uncommon, due
critical timing associated with the delay adjustments…
- p. 17 …Terauchi No, third time.
R. Gordon This is the third time that ah that you've…
- p. 18 …Terauchi Big Ship - yes and the second time ah, the, in my home I saw a…
- p. 19 …Terauchi I think it was the first time.
F. Fujii Who was the first person who…
- p. 20 …Fujii From the forward you could see the flame and the exhaust and
flame were surrounding…
- p. 21 …This one and this one, the
same logic, this point and this point are the same…
- p. 23 …Fujii When did you pick it up, the radar?
K. Terauchi Time? Time?
F. Fujii Time…
- p. 24 …Autopilot stayed
on all the time.
K. Terauchi Yeah •
R. Gordon Okay
K. Terauchi Working good…
- p. 27 …Terauchi See this is the jumbo jet. 1.5, two times this light.
R. Gordon Okay…
- p. 28 …Gordon Yeah, let's see what would you estimate the size of the small
ships to…
- p. 33 …Gordon Yes, yes, you could probably explain that with the thing you have
drawn here. Now…
- p. 35 …See if
they were stacked together at the beginning, one must have
returned to the mothership…
- p. 38 Meeting the Future by Kenju Terauchi M~ ,...,. ~ L. '1\ ti;f,) !ST
.$, /Y11"'1ol"O
Page…
- p. 39 MEETING THE FUTURE
.. Page 5 ..
We took a flight course Southeast of Greenland direct to
Chule…
- p. 40 …the same time. The strange phenomenon
happened immediately.after we began left rotation, following the
order…
- p. 41 …the ground radar
did not show any aircraft but us. They also asked us several
times…
- p. 42 …I changed auto-
focus to manual-focus and pressed the shutter but this time the
shutter…
- p. 47 …lone time before we received
When we checked our rear there was still the ship!iI…
- 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 ~Page 16~
The strange encounter ended at 75 miles North of Talkeetna, 150
miles (Approximately 276…
- p. 51 …The following is a record
of the interview:
P. Beckner
?
P. Beckner
Conducted at this time…
- p. 53 …clear •
And you could distinguish this lights as being different from the
star . . ?..
NNNooo .
. . • from the…
- p. 54 …Tamefuji ••• so maybe he couldn't see at that time, but the Captain and
me (unintelligible…
- p. 57 …Mimoto The physical requires him to wear glasses.
P. Beckner Okay , how ' bout - how 'bout the…
- p. 58 …Now - the time of the incident, when - when you guys
first saw the objects, ah what…
- p. 60 …long did you see this
total, the length of time that you saw it?
T. Tamefuji…
- p. 66 …Beckner By the engineer table?
T. Tamefuji Yes, I - when I saw, but ah, cockpit was…
- p. 67 …the trip? He felt
that, er, er, was it just during this period of time when…
- p. 68 …Beckner First saw the object?
T. Tamefuj1 Hummm , I thi nk ah , at the same time…
- p. 69 …So pretty much at the same time you both saw it?
T ~ Tamefuji Right
P. Beckner…
- p. 70 …Beckner ••• or were they pretty much the same intensity for the time
that you saw them…
- p. 72 …And tha - so that was the last time you saw it, was prior
to the turn…
- p. 74 …after I sighted it the first
time. The reason is because the Captain wanted to take…
- p. 75 …At the time of sighting, how were the lighting
conditions outside?
2
- p. 78 …When I was interviewed here at the first
time by FAA personnel, I was not sure…
- p. 80 PERSONNEL STATEMENT
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center
January 6, 1987
The following…
- p. 81 …ROCC did have primary
ta r get in the same position JL1628 reported. Several times I…
- p. 84 …During the time period p~ior to this incident all operations were normal. I
had assigned…
- p. 88 …They stated that all they oould see
were the lights and at no time could they…
- p. 100 …At no time did
either crewmember see anything outside the aircraft. The area is not within…
- p. 101 …directly over the town of Arctic Village, Alaska, at the time of the first
sighting and…
- p. 103 …Department
of TransportctiOn
Federal Aviation
Administration
(The event occurred
Ofhce of Public Affus
Alaskan Region
701…
- p. 104 …18, 1986 UTC
(The event occurred on November 17, 1986 Alaska Standard Time)
PLE ASE MARK…
- p. 114 …as derivatives
and duplicates)
• Document the image at the time of scanning, not what it may…
- p. 115 …adjustments to the
tone distribution and/or color balance. However, at this time, monitors for viewing…
- p. 116 …benefits, at this time we feel that RGB files produced to
the color and tone reproduction…
MEETING THE FUTURE
.. Page 5 ..
We took a flight course Southeast of Greenland direct to
Chule(ap?) where a U.S. military base is by crossing the great
icy highland midwest of Greenland.
The flight above Greenland, under a nearly full moon which
was raising on the right front side of our aircraft helped
visibility for the night flight. The flight was smooth despite
the unstable air current that shook the plane for about two
hours, but was still a rather atressless flight as compared to a
passenger flight.
We aimed towards Single Point, on the north coast of Canada,
by passing through the Canadian north polar regions and down
southwest along an Arctic flight course. It was 4:25 p.m. Alaska
time when we reported our location to Edmonton Center from above
Single Point, Canada (68 degrees 55 minutes the North Latitude,
137 degrees 15 minutes West Longitude); It had become pitch-
.sllJ:k perhaps because the moon was directly behind us near the
horizon. We received an order from Edmonton Center that we should
contact the
[Personal statement concerning JAL Flight 1628 sighting of
unidentified air traffic, Nov. 17, 1986. Written by Capt.
Kenju Terauchi; translated by Sayoko Mimoto, FAA Alaskan
Region, Airway Facilities Division. Received by FAA 1/2/87]
About this file
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.