Lost Radio Messages Hinder Crash Probe

Any critical last-second communication between two submarine-tracking aircraft that collided over the Pacific remains a mystery as an inquiry continues into the fatal crash.

The planes apparently had trouble radioing one another just before the crash that killed all 27 crew members, according to testimony Tuesday at a Navy inquiry. And, when the pilots switched to a little-used VHF frequency, Navy monitors didn’t hear or record what the flyers might have said.

“We don’t normally listen to that frequency,” Lt. Guy Van Meter said.

The planes were four-engine P-3 Orions. The crash occurred during the early morning of March 21 about 60 miles southwest of San Diego. One plane veered up and struck the craft flying in to relieve it during an anti-submarine training mission, according to the Navy.

“One of the radios evidently wasn’t working very well,” Lt. Scott Krambeck told the Navy court of inquiry Tuesday after he reviewed the tape recording of scratchy and sometimes muffled radio transmissions.

According to the tape, the pilots were exchanging routine information about the mission status before the crash occurred. They gave no distress warning to Navy personnel monitoring the exercise from aboard the aircraft carrier Lincoln and at the Fleet Area Control and Surveillance Facilities at North Island Naval Air Station.

“To me, they had a full understanding of where the other one was,” said Petty Officer Terry Whitfield, primary air traffic controller aboard the Lincoln when the crash occurred.

Whitfield estimated that the two aircraft were 2 to 4 miles apart, with one following the other when he was last able to track them on his radar, but he was unsure of their exact altitude. The P-3s were on a “free-lance” mission, controlling their aircraft without orders from Navy monitors, he added.

Then the first P-3 apparently reported some radio problems to its San Diego base and requested permission to change to a VHF frequency not normally monitored by the FACSFAC or by the Lincoln, according to the Navy.

After the apparent communications problems between the P-3s, Whitfield tried seeking more information on the status of the P-3s from a helicopter involved in the mission, according to the regular UHF radio transmissions.

“We just saw a large flash of light,” a helicopter crew member reported amid attempts by the Lincoln to reestablish communications with the P-3s.

“What do you think it was?” asked Whitfield.

“Possible midair,” replied the helicopter pilot who later testified that the explosion occurred behind him, lighting up the night sky as bright as day.

The Navy court of inquiry, which met last week in San Diego, is expected to continue another two days at Moffett where the P-3s are based, said Cmdr. Jim Rockwell, the Navy attorney presenting evidence to three officers.

The three Navy officers are charged with reviewing evidence to help determine the cause of the crash and to make recommendations, according to Rockwell, who said he doesn’t know how long the process could take.