USAir Probe Centers on Cockpit Crew : FAA Lifts Licenses Amid Puzzle Over Jet’s Aborted Takeoff

The Federal Aviation Administration today suspended the licenses of the pilot and co-pilot of a USAir jet which crashed in New York, amid increasing signs that crew behavior is a prime target of the investigation into the accident.

FAA sources said investigators particularly want to talk to the pilot, who so far has refused to cooperate with investigators.

An FAA spokesman in Washington described the action against pilot Michael Martin and co-pilot Constantine Kleissaf, who reportedly was at the controls of the Boeing 737 when it aborted a takeoff at La Guardia Airport and belly-flopped into the East River, as an emergency suspension of their licenses. He gave no other details.

However Peter Baron, executive director of the National Center for Air Travellers Safety, a consumers group, said an emergency license suspension is extremely unusual and a key reason for any such decision is passenger safety.

Law enforcement sources in New York said that a district attorney’s office has subpoenaed the pilot’s flight bag and that two homicide detectives have been assigned to the case.

Breaks Into Pieces

The USAir plane 737 with 63 people on board skidded off a runway during the aborted takeoff Wednesday night and broke into three pieces as it partially sank in the river. Two people were killed and 45 injured.

The New York Daily News today quoted co-pilot Kleissaf as telling investigators that he had been operating the jet when Martin “started mumbling and acted irrationally.” At the time, the jetliner was roaring down a 7,000-foot runway in a light rain.

According to the News, Kleissaf said Martin reached over and threw on the reverse thrusters to abort the takeoff even though the plane was already halfway down the runway.

The pilot, who should have been at the controls because of the light rain, had only two months experience in a Boeing 737, the New York Times reported. It was the co-pilot’s first time in the cockpit of a 737.

Airline officials refused to disclose who was at the controls at the time of the crash, but denied the plane had a novice crew. David Shipley, a spokesman for USAir, said Martin, was “very experienced” at flying a 737. He denied Martin had only two months experience operating that type of aircraft.

Tells of Training Program

He also denied that Kleissaf was unfamiliar with how to operate a 737. “All pilots go through a training program. No pilot is out there flying a plane with passengers in the back who has never flown in that particular plane before,” he said.

In a press conference at La Guardia Airport Thursday, USAir Chairman Edwin Colodny said the captain was taking advice from his lawyer and would respond to National Transportation Safety Board investigators in due course.