PILOT IN NEAR COLLISION OVER OCEAN SUGGESTED INCIDENT BE KEPT SECRET
A radio conversation among pilots after two airliners nearly collided over the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday included repeated suggestions that the incident not be reported, officials close to an investigation of the incident said yesterday.
But the pilot of the Continental jumbo jet involved refused firmly to go along. He said that many people knew about the near miss and that he had to report it, the officials said.
Other participants in the radio conversations were pilots aboard the Delta L-1011, which missed the Continental Boeing 747 by 100 feet or less after straying 60 miles off course, and the crews of two other airliners in the area. Officials said they could not be sure who first suggested hushing up the events, and who lent support. 'Nobody Knows Except Us'
''I have passengers pounding on the door, and crying, and they saw the whole thing out the windows,'' was the gist of the Continental pilot's reply, according to a version of the radio exchange supplied by an airline industry source. Almost 600 people were aboard the two planes.
The matter was originally raised when someone asked the Continental pilots whether they were going to file a report on the near collision, the officials familiar with the inquiry said. When the Continental crew members gave their first quick indication that they would, the sources added, it was followed by a transmission to the effect that ''nobody knows about it except us, you idiots!''
Government investigators said the issue of who said what would be cleared up by pilots and others who can identify the voices on a tape recording made aboard an Air Force Boeing 707 in the vicinity. The Air Force pilots took special steps to prevent the 30-minute tape from being erased because they were upset by what they were hearing, the officials said. Outrage at the F.A.A. One highly placed official of the Federal Aviation Administration said agency officials who listened to the tape recording were ''outraged'' by what they heard. ''For two years,'' he said, ''the F.A.A. has had in place a program to push flight crews to file near-midair-collision reports.''
Transcripts of the tape recording were not immediately available, so accounts of the radio conversation were reconstructed from the memory of officials who had heard the tape or talked to some of the pilots involved.
Federal air regulations require pilots who stray off course to promptly notify air-traffic controllers. This is especially important over the ocean, which is not covered by radar that allows controllers to follow the aircraft. Instead, the controllers must rely on crews' following their assigned tracks and on position reports made by radio.
The Air Force tape was turned over to the National Transportation Safety Board, which forwarded it to the Canadian Air Safety Board. The Canadians are conducting the main inquiry because the incident occurred in airspace under their authority, about three hours west of London on the two planes' parallel flights to the United States. But the F.A.A. announced yesterday that it was conducting its own inquiry, in coordination with the American safety board. Questions for Investigators
The F.A.A. said it was focusing on such questions as these:
* Why did the Delta plane stray 60 miles off course?
* How close did the Delta plane come to planes other than the Continental jet?
* What actions were taken by various flight crews after the incident?
The near disaster, and another close call over the Atlantic 800 miles south of New York a day later, raised to new levels the concern among Government and industry experts over the state of air safety. Air traffic has been increasing relentlessly, and with it reports of near-collisions and errors by controllers. A controller error caused a Pan American World Airways and a Viasa Venezuelan jetliner, carrying a total of about 180 passengers, to come within a quarter mile of colliding head-on on Thursday.
In Wednesday's incident, the two planes were flying at 31,000 feet on parallel tracks westward from Gatwick Airport in London. The Delta plane, a three-engine Lockheed jet carrying 153 passengers and a crew of up to 12, was headed for Cincinnati and was assigned to the middle track of five trans-Atlantic routes from Europe, the ''C'' track. The Continental 747, carrying 399 passengers and 19 crew members to Newark International Airport, was assigned to the ''D'' track 60 miles to the south. Two Other Crews Participate
For reasons that have not been determined, the Delta L-1011 strayed south and, in clear weather at midday, passed just beneath the Continental jet, crossing its path at about a 20-degree angle.
An American Airlines Boeing 747 was on the same track as the Continental plane, flying behind and much higher, and its crew saw the near-collision. A Pan American World Airways Airbus A-310 was flying the track the Delta Air Lines plane should have followed.
The crews of both the American and Pan Am planes participated in the radio discussions that followed. It was not clear whether they joined the discussion of whether to suppress any report to the authorities. But it is known that they helped guide the straying Delta airliner back to its course.
Federal officials, however, indicated that they were not happy with this contribution. Their view was that it was dangerous for an off-course plane to be flying courses that were not known to traffic controllers. This was because the controllers, with no radar to watch, could not then be confident that the straying craft was safely separated from other planes. 'What Are You Doing?'
As reconstructed by Government officials and others, the first exchanges were made on an emergency radio frequency that all airliners must monitor.
The officials said the startled Contnental crew, which had just seen the Delta plane slide underneath it, said something like: ''Hey Delta, what are you doing down here?''
Delta asked what Continental was talking about, and it soon became apparent that, while the Delta crew members thought their plane was on the ''C'' track, they really were on the ''D'' track. This was confirmed by the American Airlines crew. At one point, everyone agreed to switch from the emergency frequency to a standard frequency.
It was soon after this that the Continental crew members were first asked by somone whether they were going to report the near collision. Then someone suggested that nobody else had to know about it because only the crews were aware of what had happened.
A comment was also heard about ''a couple of pilots trying to save their licenses.'' The F.A.A. has the authority to fine or suspend pilots or revoke their flying licenses if it finds they have violated regulations.
At another point, a voice came on suggesting that the Continental pilots ''think about it for awhile.''
Finally, the Continental pilots repeated their ''no.'' They said they were sorry, but there was no way the incident could be kept from reaching official attention with so many passengers having wit=nessed the close call.
PILOT IN NEAR COLLISION OVER OCEAN SUGGESTED INCIDENT BE KEPT SECRET - New York Times