ALPA Pilot Bulletin Vol. 31 No. 1 including 'Cooper Is No Robin Hood'

PILOT BULLETIN INFORMATION FOR MEMBERS O[NLY] PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION, 1329 E STREET, N.W., WASHINGTON, D.C. 20004, EXCLUSIVELY FOR MEMBERS

V[OL.] 31, NO. 1 JANUARY [1972]

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ALPA EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETS

The Executive Board of the Association resolved at its 14th meeting (Dec. 7-10) in Washington to register "total opposition" to FAA's proposal to impose responsibility for medical certification and surveillance of flight crew members upon the individual air ca[r]riers. The Board directed the Aeromedical-Flight Time/Duty Time Committee "to take any and all steps it deem[s] are necessary to prevent the adoption" of the proposal and instruct[ed] the Association's President to pro- vide the necessary support and resources, and including "if necessary" reconvening the Executive Board for consideration "of other appropriate courses of action."

The Board, after lengthy discussion concerning the impact of the Aloha a[rbi]tration award on ALPA's crew complement policy, reaffirmed its "full and vigorous support of the crew complement policy and of all existing agreements and awards establishing the same." The Board said that consistent with the Nov. 23 arbitration award (which it noted "applied and interpreted the Association's policy as being founded on safety as related to the operating conditions and enviro[n]ment of the carrier involved") and consistent with past practice, the Boeing 737 crew complement policy is interpreted to require "with the concurrence of the Executive Committee and the President" that the MEC on each airline involved assess that airline's conditions and environmental factors "and reach a determination as to the basis of implementation" of the crew complement policy. The Board ordered the President to "cause the Association to provide full support to such determinations" and to conclude agreements that give full effect to such determinations.

Finally, the Board said the President and the Executive Committee should study and evaluate "crew coordination and operating techniques on all airline jet aircraft."

Other actions taken by the Executive Board include the following: ▶ Supported the Airworthiness and Performance Committee in its concern over the use of reduced-thrust takeoff procedures. ▶ Referred a proposal that ALPA initiate an aggressive policy with FAA to establish positive control, climb and descent corridors, "a high- [ly complicated subject,]" to the National ATC Committee, the national committee involved with this pro[blem]

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WARNING NO IMMUNITY

Pilots are warned that effective Dec. 31, 197[1], they are no longer provided with immunity when Near Mid-Air Collision Reports (FAA [Form] 8020-1) are filed[.] [President] John [J.?] O'Donnell attempted to persuade FAA to retain the immunity provision[s], but to no avail[.] [Without success,] the ATC Committee will again seek to convince FAA that the near mid-air reporting pro- gram is useless without some protection given to the pilot and controller[.] As additional information becomes available, it will be reported in [ALPA] publications.

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[ly complicated subject,] to the National ATC Committee, the national committee involved with this pro[blem] ▶ Noted that "it is in the best interest of" ALPA "to present a unified position to the government and industry on those subject areas which affect the entire membership" and resolved "that before any pilot representing body of the Association takes action on subjects under the view of an ALPA national committee and not covered by ALPA policy, proposed action be brought to the attention of the responsible national committees for their review and analysis to ensure a coordinated position" ▶ Directed the President "to actively pursue" ALPA policy, adopted in 1962, "to work to bring international flight duty time limits into line with domestic FAR limits." ▶ Directed the Association to institute a procedure of withholding dues from flight pay loss checks. ▶ Noted that the use of "Air Line Pilots" in the name of any organization, other than ALPA, "is confusing and misleading to the membership, the public, the government and the industry and might be harmful to the public image of the Association[,]" and resolved "that all members so involved refrain from any activities which generate the impression that they or their organization, association or firm act in behalf of or under the jurisdiction [Continued on page 2]

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LATE NEWS ROUND-UP

● Revised ALPA merger policy has been adopted by the Executive Board (see page 2).

● The Department of Transportation is investigating the manner in which [a] Delta 880 was contaminated by radioactive leakage. DOT is attempting to determine whether the cause was from faulty packaging or from handling damage.

● CAB examiner is against AAL-WAL merger plan (see page 4).

● PATCO says FAA has fired four more controllers for their actions during a "sickout" in March 1970, bringing the number of dismissed controllers to 30. Thirty-eight of the 80 have won their jobs back through appeals procedures and the courts.

● ALPA opposes DOT action in AAL- WAL merger case (see page 5).

● "Cooper" is no Robin Hood (see page 7).

● NTSB and FAA officials say that a National Airlines 747, which ran afoul of turbulence, did so as the crew picked its way through thunderstorm cells using airborne radar.

● Pilots should specify payments (see page 8).

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164-2111-403

COOPER IS NO 'ROBIN HOOD'

Despite some attempts to prove otherwise through opportunism and commercialism, the person who labels himself as "D. B. Cooper" is--if he is still alive--no modern-day Robin Hood. He is a thief and a criminal of the highest order. He demonstrated more than passing knowledge of the air en- vironment, especially parachuting. It is possible that "D. B. Cooper's" path may have crossed that of airline per- sonnel--and airline pilots--at some time under another name. He is re- ported to have a bitter hatred against the airlines--he may have worked for one.

For these reasons PILOT BULLETIN is printing the specifications of the criminal that extorted $200,000 from Northwest Airlines on Nov. 24, 1971. Two artist drawings of "Cooper" are included in the hopes they may prod the memories of ALPA members who may have seen or known him in the past.

The Federal Bureau of Investiga- tion describes the man as follows: Race: White Age: Mid-40s

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Artists sketch of Cooper with and without glasses

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Height: 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet Weight: 170 to 180 pounds Build: Average to well built Complexion: Olive, Latin ap- pearance, medium smooth Hair: Dark brown or black, nor- mal style, parted on left, combed back, sideburns, low ear level Eyes: Possibly brown; during lat- ter part of flight put on dark wrap- around sunglasses with dark rims Voice: Low, spoke intelligently, no particular accent

Characteristic: Heavy [smoker,] Raleigh filter-tip cigarettes [text cut off at right margin] Wearing apparel: Black [and] white shirt, narrow [black tie,] dress suit, black rain-type [coat,] dark topcoat, brown shoes; [carried] paper bag 4 inches by 12 inches and dark briefcase or [attache] case

If you have any information that might lead to the identity of [this] in- dividual, please contact the [nearest] FBI office.

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ALPA PRESSES FOR ACTION ON MID-AIR COLLISIONS

Pointing to a "needless slaughter" resulting from 70 mid-air collisions of U. S. airliners in the past 25 years, ALPA urged congressional action to make collision-avoidance equipment a mandatory requirement for all aircraft operating in government-controlled airspace.

In testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Aviation on Dec. 1, the Association emphasized the in- creasing hazards of mid-air accidents. A study made by the Department of Transportation, ALPA said, projected that by 1980 there would be approxi- mately 10 mid-air collisions occurring each year. In 1971, there were four such tragedies.

ALPA recommended two govern- ment actions that should be taken im- mediately to reduce or eliminate the mid-air collision hazard:

"The first of these requires an im- mediate decision on the part of the U. S. government that the use of an ade- quate collision avoidance system or proximity warning indicator should be made mandatory for every aircraft operated within controlled airspace."

"The other action requires that the Federal Aviation Administration take a more realistic and sophisticated approach to inflight segregation of military and general aviation aircraft from airline and other high performance civil aircraft."

In addition to these recommenda- tions, ALPA asked for a live evalua- tion of the several collision avoidance systems now available. Recognizing that installation of these systems would entail particular burdens for light plane owner, ALPA called for devel- opment of a plan to help them finance this hardware.

Although ALPA does not endorse any particular equipment now being offered as solutions to the collision problem, it supported the Senate bill under consideration (S. 2264), which would facilitate the installation of collision avoidance devices. "The establishment of definite compliance dates," ALPA said, "will also empha- size the urgency of the problem and [take it out of the 'study' category]..." [text continues below page boundary]

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FAA Continuing Taxiway - Exit Identification Light Test At JFK And Newark

The September 1971 PILOT BUL- LETIN announced the beginning of testing of taxiway exit lighting on Newark runway 4L-22R. Now the test is ready to be implemented on runway 31R-13L. The runway [tests] show red threshold lights at [the] ends. Green flush centerline [lights] at runway and taxiway intersections are the main features of the [test], along with green curved lead-in lights at the center taxiway [signs].

The airlines have [probably] ready issued information and [proce-] dures to pilots operating into [these] airports. FAA will provide [additional] information. ALPA requests [that] pilots cooperate in this eva[luation]. Please send a copy of your [com-] [ments] to the ALPA Engineering and [Safety] Department for information. [text cut off]