Mourns Tragedy, Flies to Calif. for Holidays : Reagan Defends Scope of Alert on Threat

President Reagan flew to California today after mourning the loss of the victims of the crash of Pan Am Flight 103 and insisting that it would have been an “impossible thing to do” to warn the American public about all threats against commercial airliners.

The President, as he left the White House for his annual two-week New Year’s vacation, also asked Americans to “say a special prayer” this Christmas for the families and friends of those aboard the plane and those killed on the ground at Lockerbie, Scotland, on Wednesday.

“I want to express our sorrow and concern to the families and friends of those who died in the Pan Am crash. . . . There are difficult aspects of this tragedy, but none so compelling as the anguish of those families who will not have their loved ones with them this Christmas season,” said Reagan, whose wife, Nancy, stood beside him in the rain.

A reporter asked Reagan whether all U.S. citizens--and not just diplomats--should have been warned about a Dec. 5 telephoned warning that a terrorist attack against a Pan Am flight from Frankfurt would occur this month.

“All the precautions that could be taken were taken with regard to warning the airline and all,” he replied.

Of a possible public warning, Reagan added, “I think that would have been a virtually impossible thing to do on the basis of that telephone call.

“If you stop to think about it, such a public statement, with nothing but a telephone call to go on, would literally have closed down all the air traffic in the world,” he said.

Asked whether he had any new information as to whether the Pan Am jumbo jet was the target of a terrorist bomb, he replied, “None of this is established. The search still goes on. We have no knowledge about how the accident happened. We’re still trying to find out.”

The Reagans flew to California aboard Air Force One to celebrate Christmas in their new home in the posh Bel-Air section of Los Angeles.