Panel Says FAA Altered Records of Controllers

Federal aviation officials doctored attendance records of air traffic controllers who were fired in Chicago during the 1981 strike, a House panel said today in recommending a probe for possible criminal misconduct.

Officials produced altered documents when Chicago controllers appealed their firings to the Merit Systems Protection Board, and then “attempted to conceal those activities” during testimony to the board and a House subcommittee investigating the case, lawmakers concluded.

The report by the Public Works subcommittee on investigations and oversight recommends the Justice Department review the testimony of Federal Aviation Administration officials for possible misconduct.

“Our goal was to determine if a federal agency had trampled on the rights of individuals and we are able to conclude that a gross injustice did indeed take place,” said Rep. James L. Oberstar (D-Minn.), chairman of the subcommittee during the investigation.

Oberstar suggested today that the improprieties were rooted in poor labor-management relations. “There was an atmosphere of mutual bitterness, animosity, that bordered on hatred. . . . They (management) wanted to crush these people,” he said.