Small Plane in Full View of Jet, Attorney Argues

A small plane was in full view of an Aeromexico jetliner for “the last critical minute” before the two aircraft collided over Cerritos, killing 82 people, a government lawyer contended in Los Angeles federal court Thursday.

Department of Justice lawyer Steven Riegel, defending the government in about 70 lawsuits filed by relatives of the victims, said the single-engine Piper Archer flown by private pilot William Kramer “was in the middle” of the Aeromexico plane’s windshield long enough to be seen before it hit the DC-9’s tail.

“If they had been looking out, they could have seen this guy?” asked U.S. District Judge David V. Kenyon during a pretrial hearing.

“Absolutely, your honor, for the last critical minute,” Riegel said.

Riegel’s statements sharply conflicted with testimony presented at a National Transportation Safety Board hearing that investigated the August, 1986, crash.

A study by Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory said Kramer had twice as good a chance of seeing the Aeromexico jet as the jet had of seeing Kramer’s plane.

The jet’s crew had only a 42% chance of seeing Kramer’s plane 12 seconds before the crash, the minimum time considered necessary for avoiding a collision, according to the MIT study, which was based on calculations culled from 250 near-collision flight tests.

Aeromexico attorney Frank Silane disputed Riegel’s theory, saying the crash was caused by the Piper flying into restricted airspace and by failure of the Federal Aviation Administration to maintain air traffic safety in the area.

Silane said it was doubtful that the Aeromexico crew could see Kramer’s plane.

A Sept. 13 trial of the combined civil suits is set in federal court. Defendants include the U.S. government, Aeromexico, Delta Airlines, Piper Archer and Kramer’s estate.

At the time of the crash, Kramer’s plane was flying in Los Angeles International Airport’s Terminal Control Area without the permission of air traffic controllers.

In a final report released last August, the National Transportation Safety Board blamed air traffic control procedures for the crash and concluded that both planes were displayed on radar for air traffic controllers to see.