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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.

  • p. 3 …Investi gation of Japan Air Lines flight 1628 Sighting of Unidentified Air Traffic on November 17…
  • p. 5 …but •.• JL1628 = Japan Air Lines flight #1628 Rl.5 = Controller positicn, Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control…
  • p. 7 …sixty one line. Approach. Look at your radar. We got a Japan Air one six~ eight…
  • p. 82 …a report concerning the incident to Japan Airlines Flight 1628 (JL1628) north of Fairbanks, Alaska on…
  • p. 107 …86 unidentified object sighting by Japan Air Lines flight 1628. (5 pages) PLEASE COMPLETE AND RETURN…
I
I
w
,..J
H
~
~
--
An "unc o rre la t ed p r i ma r y and be a con(sec onda r y ) r e t u rn on a r ad a r
screen oc cur s wh e n th e r adar e ne r gy that is s ent up t oward the ai r c raft
(pri ma r y si gnal) r e turns off t he surface o f the aircraft at a s l ightl y
di f ferent moment than the beac on (secondary ) transp onder signal a nd the
t wo do not match up as being a t the same place or same computer rad a r
cell .
--RADAR COMPUTER CELL, 1/4 MILE--
SECONDARY
RADAR
RETURN
(Beacon)
(Transponder)
--11
FAA
RADAR
SAME AIRCRAFT
RETURN
(Skin-
Surface)
--v'-RADAR CELL
=PRIMARY RAD~ RETURN
=SECONDARY RADAR RETURN
=CORRELATED RETURN
(Combined Return)
Drawing by Paul St eucke
March 5, 1987 =UNCORRELATED RETURN

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