733667-001-015

Subject: From: To: Memorandum U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration INFORMATION: Transcription concerning the incident involving Japan Airlines Flight 1628 on November 18, 1986 at approximately 0218 UTC. Date: Quentin J. Gates Air Traffic Manager, ANC ARTCC Reply to Attn. of : Anchorage ARTCC 5400 Davis Hwy. Anchorage, Alaska January 9, 1987 This transcription covers the time period from November 18, 1986, 0214 UTC to November 18, 1986, 0259 UTC. Agencies Making Transmissions Abbreviations Japan Airlines Flight 1628 JL1628 Anchorage ARTCC Combined Sector R/Dl5 R/Dl5 Anchorage ARTCC Sector Dl5 Dl5 Anchorage ARTCC Sector Rl5 Rl5 Regional Operations Command Center ROCC United Airlines Flight 69 UA69 TOTEM71 TOTEM Fairbanks Approach Control APCH I hereby certify that the following is a true transcription of the recorded conversations pertaining to the subject incide t: Specialist (0214) (0215) (0216) (0217) (0218) (0219) 0219:15 0219:24 0219:28 0219:32 0219:36 0219:49 0219: 58 0220 :04 0220: 14 0220:21 JL1628 R/Dl5 JL1628 R/Dl5 JL1628 R/Dl5 JL1628 R/Dl5 JL1628 R/Dl5 Anchorage Center Japan Air sixteen twenty eight ah do you have any traffic ah seven o'clock above Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy say again Ah do you have any traffic in front of us Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy negative Ah Japan Air sixteen twenty eight roger and ah we insight ah two traffic ah in front of us one mile about Japan Air sixteen twenty eight roger do you have ah can you identify the aircraft Ah we are not sure but ah we have traffic in sight now Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy roger maintain visual cont~ct with your traffic and ah can you say the altitude of the traffic Um at the same altitude sixteen twenty eight Japan Air sixteen twenty eight roger would you like higher or lower altitude 0222:36 JL1628 0222:41 R/Dl5 0222:46 JL1628 0222:48 R/Dl5 0222:52 JL1628 0222:55 JL1628 0223:00 R/Dl5 0223:05 JL1628 0223:10 R/Dl5 0223:13 JL1628 0223: 19 R/Dl5 0223:26 JL1628 0223:35 ROCC 0223:37 R/015 Just ah now (unintelligible) Japan Air sixteen twenty eight your garbled change to frequency one three three point one Ah confirm one three three one Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy affi"rmative Thank you Anchorage Center Japan Air sixteen twenty eight flight.level three five zero Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy roger and do you have clouds apove you or below you bel~w -below us Japan Air sixteen twenty eight Japan Air sixteen twenty.eight roger And now the target ah traffic is ah extinguished ah we cannot see now Japan Air sixteen twenty eight roger and I'm not receiving any radar replies Ah negative One dash two go ahead Ya could you look ah approximately forty miles south of Fort Yukon there should be a code up there of one five five zero can you tell me you see a primary target about his position (0214) (0215) (0216) (0217) (0218) (0219) 0219:15 0219:24 0219:28 0219:32 0219:36 0219:49 0219:58 0220:04 0220:14 0220:21 JL1628 R/Dl5 JL1628 R/Dl5 JL1628 R/Dl5· JL1628 R/Dl5 JL1628 R/D15 Anchorage Center Japan Air sixteen twenty eight ah do you have any traffic ah seven o'clock above Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy say again Ah do you have any traffic in front of us Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy negative Ah Japan Air sixteen twenty eight roger and ah we insight ah two traffic ah in front of us one mile about Japan Air sixteen twenty eight roger do you have ah can you identify the aircraft Ah we are not sure but ah we have traffic in sight now Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy roger maintain visual contact with your traffic and ah can you say the altitude of the traffic Um at the same altitude sixteen twenty eight Japan Air sixteen twenty eight roger would you like higher or lower altitude 0223:51 ROCC (0224) 0224:09 R/Dl5 0224: 11 ROCC 0224: 13 R/Dl5 0224:14 ROCC 0224: 17 JL1628 0224:19 R/Dl5 0224: 21 ROCC 0224:50 R/Dl5 0224 : 53 JL1628 0225:02 R/Dl5 0225: 1 2 JL1628 0 225: 18 R/Dl5 Okay stand-by - -I'm going to expand out - -just a moment here - -one five five zero squawk huh Affirmative Let me take a look here High altitude thirty five thousand Okay let me switch over to my other scope here Japan Air sixteen twenty eight Alright I'll see what ah I'll call you right back Okay R-F Japan Air sixteen twenty eight do you still have ah visual contact with the ah traffic Affirmative ah so we radar contact ah (unintelligible) Japan Air sixteen tYenty eight heavy roger sir I'm picking up a ah hit on the radar approximately five miles in trail of your six o'clock position do you concur Ah negative ah eleven o'clock ah eight miles ah same level over Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy roger 0225:37 ROCC 0225:39 R/Dl5 0225:43 ROCC 0225:50 R/Dl5 0225:57 ROCC 0226:03 R/Dl5 0226:13 ROCC 0226:15 R/Dl5 0226:18 ROCC 0226:25 R/Dl5 0226:33 ROCC 0226:35 R/Dl5 One dash two's on Ya ah did you get another ah target up there by that one five five zero code Okay I've got your squawk it looks like I am getting some surge primary return ah I don't know if it's erroneous or whatever but Negative uhuh it's not erroneous I want you to keep a good track on there and if you pick up a code and verify that you do not have any aircraft operating in that area military That is affirm we do not have anybody up there right now ah can you give me the position of the primary your receiving Okay I'm not I'm ah picking up a primary approximately five zero miles south right up there right in front of the ah one five five zero code Okay I've got him his about Eight miles in front of the one five five zero code he's got traffic at the same altitude three five oh Okay I've got him about his ah oh it looks like about ah ten o'clock at about that range yes Alright keep an eye on that and ah see if ah any other military (unintelligible) in that area Okay ah we' 11 look around here see what we can ffnd out H-C 0226: 36 ROCC (0227) 0227: 43 ROCC 0 227:45 R/Dl5 0227:48 ROCC 0227:49 R/Dl5 0227: 50 ROCC 0227:52 R/Dl5 0227: 53 ROCC 0227:58 R/Dl5 0228: 04 ROCC 0228:09 R/Dl5 0228:10 ROCC (0229) (0230) . 0230~16 0230:20 JL1628 R15 Okay R-F One dash two Ya ah reference that ah (unintelligible) Okay That is unknown to us It is what It is ah unknown to us It i~ an unknown okay we've lost contact with it now Okay were not working that aircraft (unintelligible) Okay I -I'm still not I we lost contact on him now I don't see him at all Okay Okay R-F (unintelligible ) Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy you' r e coming in broken say again 0230:23 JL1628 0230:31 Rl5 0230:49 JL1628 0230:52 R15 0230:56 JL1628 (0231) 0231:27 Rl5 0231:36 APCH 0231:40 Rl5 0231:47 APCH 0231:48 Rl5 0231:51 APCH · 0231:53 R15 0231:58 APCH Request ah deviate ah ah from ah from object request heading two four zero Japan Air sixteen twenty eight roger fly heading two four zero -- -Japan Air sixteen twenty eight ah heavy deviations approved as necessary for traffic It's ah quite big Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy you' re still broken say again It's ah I think ah very quite big ah plane Approach sector fif - -approach fifteen request Go ,ahead Let's see one two miles southeast (unintelligible) you'll see a code of zero at flight level three five zero Ya of the Alpha one five five Are you pickin up a primary target right with that aircraft You mean aside from the aircraft itself Ya ya other than that one are you pickin up a ah it a be primary ah he's probably not squawking a code Ah no it's the only target I see there 0232:00 Rl5 0232:03 APCH 0232: 04 Rl5 0232:05 APCH 0232:07 JL1628 0232:20 JL1628 0232:25 Rl5 0232:34 Rl5 0232:39 JL1628 0232:41 Rl5 0232:45 JL1628 0232:58 Rl5 0233:00 JL1628 0233:07 Rl5 Okay if you see a primary watch that fifteen fifty code if you have time Ya If you see a primary with it keep your eye on it and he should be at three five oh also Alright very good we're watching Japan Air sixteen twenty eight ah request descent Japan Air sixteen twenty eight request three one zero Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy understand requesting.flight level three one zero Japan Air sixteen twenty eight transmissions are broken say again Flight level three one zero heavy your Japan Air sixteen one er correction sixteen twenty eight heavy descend at pilot discretion maintain flight level three one zero Leaving three five zero to three one zero Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy do you still have your traffic Still ah coming ah ah right formation in ah formation Japan Air sixteen twenty eight understand (0234) 0234:38 RlS 0234:42 JL1628 0234:S2 RlS 0234:S6 JL1628 023S:02 RlS 023S:lS RlS 023S:20 JL1628 023S:24 DIS 023S:27 APCH 023S:28 Dl5 023S:29 APCH 023S:30 DIS 023S:38 APCH Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy say position of your traffic Affirmative west of ah Fairbanks Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy understand your traffic is over Fairbanks at this time Affirmative - -ah request heading two one zero Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy deviations approved as necessary for traffic roger Japan Air sixteen twenty eight say altitude of your traffic Ah ou ah sa ah same level Approach center on the sixty one line Approach Have you got a second Sure go ahead Look at your radar We got a Japan Air one six two eight ah he's deviating he's about ah five miles north of Fairbanks V-0-R squawking one five five zero Uh huh 0235:39 Dl5 0235: 42 Rl5 0235:43 015 0235:44 APCH 0235:49 Dl5 0235: 50 APCH (0236) 0236:12 JL1628 0236: 18 Rl5 0236:24 JL1628 0236:37 Rl5 0236:47 JL1628 (0237 ) 0237: 12 015 Do you have any traffic with him he sees traffic he was deviating I already asked approach Oh he's already asked you I guess h.uh Ah -ya no we don't I don't see anything there aside from his ah his target Okay thank you S-R Unintelligible Ah Anchorage Center Japan Air one six two eight request direct ah Talkeetna Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy cleared direct Talkeetna and in ah advise me of your position of your traffic Ah same po same position Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy ah sir I'm gonna request you to make a right turn three six zero degrees three hundred antl sixty degree turn and advise me what your traffic does then Right turn three sixty Anchorage Center 0237: 13 ROCC 0237:18 Dl5 0237:19 ROCC 0237: 21 Dl5 0237: 23 ROCC 0237:25 Dl5 0237:27 ROCC 0237: 29 015 0237:30 ROCC 0237:32 Dl5 0237:33 ROCC 0237:55 R15 0238:00 JL1628 0238:54 R15 0238:57 JL1628 Ya one dash two are you still working the one five five zero squawk One five ah Ya he's the one that had somebody in front of him level Yes Okay we have no we have confirmed we have no military aircraft working up there Okay thank you very much Does he still have tally on the aircraft out there You have no traffic at all That's correct does he still have somebody visual He says he does Oh okay thank you Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy sir does your tra ffic appear to be staying with you (unintelligible) just looking Japan Air sixteen twenty eight sir do you still have the traffic Ah (unintelligible) distinguished 0239: 01 -Rl5 0239:04 JL1628 0239:57 Dl5 0239:58 ROCC 0240: 05 Dl5 0240: 07 ROCC 0240:10 Rl5 0240: 15 · JL1628 0240:23 Rl5 0240: 24 Dl5 0240:30 ROCC 0240: 32 JL1628 02 40:35 Rl5 0240:47 JL1628 Japan Air sixteen twenty eight say again It ah disappeared Japan Air sixteen twenty eight Anchorage Center Ya this is one dash two again on some other equipment here we have confirmed there is a flight size of two around your one five five zero squawk one primary return only Okay where is is he following him It looks like he is yes Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy roger at your discretion proceed direct Talkeetna Jay one two five Anchorage (unintelligible) Japan Air sixteen twenty eight roger sir the military radar advises they do have a primary target in trail of you at this time Okay do you have anybody you can scramble up there I'll tell you what we're gonna talk to your liasion sir about that Ah say again Japan Air sixteen twenty eight Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy military radar advises they are picking up intermittent primary target behind you in-trail in-trail I say again (unintelligible) 0240:46 0240: 50 0240:51 0240: 54 0240:55 0240:57 0240:58 0240:10 0240:12 0240:13 0240: 17 0240:26 0240:34 0240:35 ROCC Dl5 ROCC 015 ROCC 015 ROCC Where is this search return at right behind him or where Say again Ah I'm gonna talk to my other radar man here has gotta he's got some other equipment watching this aircraft Okay Okay we're gonna call the military desk on this Okay thank you Okay R-F (There was an overlap of transmissions during this time frame) Rl5 JL1628 Rl5 JL1628 Rl5 JL1628 Rl5 Japan Air sixteen twenty eight Anchorage request Go ahead Roger sir would you like our military to scramble on the traffic Negative negative Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy sir we do have military ah at Eilson forty miles away I can put em up and let em check the traffic for you Roger Japan Air sixteen twenty eight roger would you like us to do that 0240:44 TOTEM 0240:48 Rl5 0240:55 JL1628 0240:59 Rl5 (0241) 0241:07 JL1628 0241:49 ROCC 0241:51 Dl5 0241: 56 ROCC 0241: 59 Dl5 0242:00 ROCC 0242:04 JL1628 0242: 09 Rl5 Anchorage Center you have Totem seven one up here ah we might be able to get close to him Japan Air sixteen twenty eight you were broken say again Ah say again Japan Air sixteen twenty eight Japan Air sixteen twenty eight your transmission was broken sir we do have military aircraft in your vicinity that we can ah check on the ah traffic with you Ah (unintelligible) sixteen twenty eight no radar traffic above On~ two's on Roger where's that ah are you still painting a primary ah by that Japan Airlines flight squawking fifteen fifty Okay let me look at my other Can you tell where's the position of it Okay standby Anchorage Center Japan Air sixteen twenty eight confirm direct to Talkeetna three one zero Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy affirmative direct Talkeetna and descend at pilot's discretion maintain flight level two five zero 0242:16 0242:24 0242:29 0242:31 0242:35 0242:42 (0243) (0244) 0244:07 0244:12 0244:13 0244:17 0244: 39 0244:41 JL1628 ROCC DlS ROCC JL1628 RlS RlS JL1628 RlS JL1628 RlS UA69 Ah pilot's discretion two five zero Japan Air sixteen twenty eight It looks like he he ah off set left and then possibly fell back in-trail however I can't see him now I can't pick him out Okay thank you very much S-R R-F Ah we have -Anchorage Center Japan Air one six two eight ah we have in sight same position over Japan Air sixteen twenty eight understand in sight in same position Japan Air sixteen twenty eight sir do you still have the traffic Ah say again please Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy do you still have the traffic Ah affirmative ah nine o'clock ah ah United sixty nine Anchorage request Ah go ahead United sixty nine heavy 0244:43 Rl5 0245:04 UA69 0245:10 RlS 0245:J.6 UA69 0245:24 Rl5 0245:46 UA69 0245:49 RlS 0246:06 UA69 0246:12 Rl5 0246:22 UA69 United sixty nine heavy sir I've got a Japan Air seven forty seven presently in your eleven o'clock position and one hundred and one correction one one zero miles and he has traffic (unintelligible) I' 11 keep you advised ah when you're closer to him I want you to see if you see anything with him Okay fine ah we'll look for ya United sixty nine heavy sir if you can I would like to identify the ah type of aircraft 'l;hen you go by him Okay you got some background ah noise so you you want us to identify the trailing aircraft if we can United sixty nine heavy affirmative Say again the location of the ·traffic for United sixty nine United sixty nine heavy in your eleven o'clock position one zero zero miles southbound is a Japan Air seven forty seven he is at flight level three one zero says he has traffic at his nine o'clock position same altitude We'll be looking that's ah ah can't see anything yet Roger sir he's ah way up to ah to the north of you with your concurrence I'm gonna put you on a vector and take you ah closer to him ah so when you pass you'll be within five miles of each other Okay you're uh something wrong with your transmitter or something but ah I think your talking to United sixty nine r 0246: 34 0246:46 0246:48 0246: 54 0246:59 0247:06 0247:09 0247:10 . (0248) 0248: 11 0248:13 0248: 16 0248: 19 Rl5 UA69 Rl5 JL1628 Rl5 JL1628 Rl5 UA69 UA69 Rl5 UA69 P..15 United sixty nine heavy that is affirmative sir I'm gonna take you on a vector closer to the Japan Air he' 11 still be at flight level three one zero and I'm gonna keep you at flight level two nine zero as long as you can stay up with your approval That' 11 be fine Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy maintain flight level three one zero Japan Air one six two eight (unintelligible) maintain three one zero Japan Air sixteen twenty eight roger I'm gonna have a United aircraft get close to you and take a look ah to see if he can identify your traffic Thank you United sixty nine heavy turn ten degrees left radar vectors ah to see traffic Left United sixty nine Ah say again the traffic (unintelligible) Aircraft calling Anchorage Center w1 th traffic say again United sixty nine can you point the traffic out again please United sixty nine heavy affirmative the ah Japan Air is in your eleven o'clock position and five zero miles southbound 0248:28 0248:31 0248: 34 0248:52 (0249) 0249: 32 0249:39 0249:45 0249:47 0249:52 0250:00 0250:05 0250:07 0250:14 UA69 Rl5 JL1628 Rl5 UA69 Rl5 JL1628 UA69 Rl5 UA69 UA69 Rl5 UA69 Ah roger thank you Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy say the position of your traffic Ah now ah ah moving to ah around ten mile now ah ah position ah seven ah eight o'clock ten mile Japan Air sixteen seventy eight heavy roger Ask that Japan Airliner to ah turn on his lights and turn it off for United sixty nine would ya Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy ah flash your ah ~anding lights on and off please Do now Japan Air sixteen twenty eight Okay we've got the ah Japan Airlines airplane this is United sixty nine United sixty nine heavy roger the Japan Air says the traffic is in his seven to eight o'clock position and one zero miles in-trail Okay we're lookin Why don't you get us a little closer United sixty nine heavy roger another additional ten degrees left Roger United sixty nine 0250:35 UA69 0250:46 Rl5 0250:52 JL1628 (0251) 0251:02 Rl5 0251:06 JL1628 0251:32 UA69 0251:49 Rl5 (0252) 0252: 03 UA69 0252:05 Rl5 0252: 12 UA69 United sixty nine heavy we've got the Japan Airliner insight I don't see anybody around him ah he's at his seven to eight o'clock position huh United sixty nine that's what he says Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy say the position of your traffic now Ah now distinguishing but ah ah your I guess ah twelve o'clock below ah you over Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy say again you're broken Just ahead of ah United ah (unintelligible) Ah· Center from United ah sixty nine ah the ah. Japan Airliner is silhouetted against a ah light sky I don't see anybody around him at all I can see his contrail but I sure don't see any other airplanes do you see him United sixty nine heavy ah negative sir we got just a very few primary hits on the ah target and then ah we really haven't got a good track on him ever Yeah we'd like to start down now United sixty nine United sixty nine heavy cleared direct Fairbanks descend at pilot discretion maintain one zero thousand Fairbanks altimeter three zero two two Down to one zero thousand direct to Fairbanks United sixty nine r 0252:18 0252:28 0252:31 0252:36 0252:55 (0253) 0253:10 0253:13 0253:27 0253:31 0253:33 0253:53 Rl5 Rl5 TOTEM Rl5 TOTEM Rl5 JL1628 Rl5 JL1628 Rl5 Rl5 And United sixty nine heavy I thank you for your help Totem seven one contact Anchorage Center one one eight point two If you want we've got extra gas we could bop up another five or six thousand feet and turn around Totem seven one ah roger sir if you'd like ah standby -Totem seven one turn ah right heading two five correction turn right heading two seven zero radar vectors to intercept Two seven zero you want us to go up five or six thousand Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy descend at pilot discretion maintain flight level two five zero Japan Air sixteen twenty eight ah pilot's discretion maintain ah ah two five zero so ah ah I cannot I couldn't see ah U-F-0 over Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy understand you do not see the traffic any longer Affirmative Roger sir I've got a military C one ah thirty that's gonna go over and take a look at it Totem seven one sir the military seven forty seven on completion of your turn will be in your two o'clock position three zero miles southbound at ah flight level three one zero (0254) 0254:04 TOTE2'! 0254:09 Rl5 0254:32 TOTEM 0254:34 Rl5 0254:37 TOTEM (0255) 0255:18 Rl5 0255:25 TOTEM 0255:27 Rl5 0255:31 TOTEM 0255:35 Rl5 0255: 38 TOTEM 0255:58 Rl5 Okay sir we' re searching this time we think we have him Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy flash your landing lights please And Center Totem seven one would like to climb to two four zero Totem seven one climb and maintain flight level two four zero Out of two one zero for two four zero Totem seven one Totem seven one the seven forty seven is now two o'clock one five miles southbound three one zero Ah yes sir ~e've got him insight Totem seven one understand you do have him insight (unintelligible) Totem seven one do you see any traffic in his vicinity Not flashing any lights at this time sir Totem· seven one deviations approved as ah necessary to ah take a look (0256) 0256:02 TOTEM 0256:04 Rl5 0256:10 TOTEM 0256:13 Rl5 0256:17 TOTEM 0256:22 JL1628 0256:28 Rl5 0256:40 JL1628 ( 0257) 0257:13 R15 0257:18 JL1628 (0258) (0259) Okay sir Totem seven one wilco And Totem seven one sir after your ah the seven forty seven goes by you ah your discretion direct Eilson Okay that would be Elmendorf sir but ah understand direct Totem seven one that's my correction sir be direct Elmendorf your discretion Roger sir Anchorage Center Japan Air one six two eight leaving ah three one zero for ah two five zero now Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy roger and traffic in your eleven o'clock ah correction your ten o'clock position five miles westbound is a military C one thirty flight level two four zero Roger Japan Air sixteen twenty eight heavy contact Anchorage Center one one eight point two Eight point two good day End of Transcript UTC NORAD FSD0-63 PO TAT J529 INS ARTCC Universal Time Coordinated. (Used to be Greenwich Time, Zulu) North American Defense Air Command FAA Flight Standards District Office, Anchorage/S.C. Area Intersection location name on airway map. (Northwest of · Fort Yukon. Airway route Internal Navigation System (Anchorage) Air Route Traffic Control Center (Enroute traffic) PVD Plan View Display (Radar Screen) ROCC Regional Operations Command Center (Military, AF) 350 35,000 feet elevation ....