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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…
R. Gordon First time for the other crew members, okay that's fine.
K. Terauchi I think it was the first time.
F. Fujii Who was the first person who saw it?
K. Terauchi It was me. I saw it in - inside.
F. Fujii What did you notice at first?
K. Terauchi During first time we saw light, I think a navigation light.
R. Gordon Ah ha, but you saw it visually first you didn't pick it up on
radar or anything you just saw some light out there, okay and
that really coinsides with the air traffic statement, you called
and said do you have any traffic in my area
K. Terauchi Yeah, yeah before, before, about six minutes before I saw this
one so ah • • •
R. Gordon
K. Terauchi
R. Gordon
F. Fujii
R. Gordon
K. Terauchi
F. Fujii
R. Gordon
?
R. Gordon
K. Terauchi
& F. Fujii
You were watching him for about five or six minutes before you
called •
Before I contact Anchorage Center
Ah ah, okay
Okay fourth question, what did you see exactly shape, light, and
all, the shape, lighting, etc.
Well if you can just explain these to me cause it looks like
you've done alot of drawing here so it's not necessary for you to
redraw all this stuff
This light was amber and whitish, but, when it came to here it
was only amber • white light. Why don't I understand.
(Japanese) right
First of all it's like amber and whitish color, came closely it
seems like all the output exhaust position of the jets, all these
Challenger
Look like something like after burners ••• okay okay, like each
one of these was an individual exhaust
Yes
Okay
So this light is special like (Japanese) when ah Challenger, yes
like Challenger took off amount of flame going on, we can't see
Challenger by this flame
3

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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.