Act Daily News
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The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating a close to miss incident on the JFK runway final month, has issued a subpoena for the testimony of the American Airlines pilots concerned.
“American Airlines cleared the flight crew’s schedule to ensure their availability; however, the flight crew refused to be interviewed on the basis that their statements would be audio recorded for transcription,” the NTSB preliminary report says. “As a result of the flight crew’s repeated unwillingness to proceed with a recorded interview, subpoenas for their testimony have been issued.”
The NTSB report says the American Airlines 777 crossed an energetic runway with out clearance from air visitors management, inflicting a Delta 737 to abort its takeoff.
The report says the 2 plane got here inside 1,400 ft of one another.
Following the report, the NTSB issued an announcement saying investigators “frequently use recording devices in interviews, particularly with those who had roles in operating the equipment involved in the accident or incident.”
The company says it tried to interview the American crew on three separate events and issued a subpoena Friday to the three crew members concerned within the incident. They have seven days to reply, the NTSB says.
The assertion notes that the airline itself has cooperated with the investigation.
Investigators have accepted written statements from the Delta crew and decided that they comprise “sufficient information.”
As Act Daily News has beforehand reported, the American Airlines flight continued on to London’s Heathrow airport. The flight voice recorders on each plane have been overwritten, that means investigators can’t hear what was mentioned within the cockpit on the time of the incident.
The NTSB says the American crew, by their union, the Allied Pilots Association, wouldn’t consent to the interview.
“NTSB has determined that this investigation requires that the flight crew interviews be audio recorded and transcribed by a court reporter to ensure the highest degree of accuracy, completeness, and efficiency,” the report says.
The APA mentioned in an announcement that traditionally these interviews haven’t been recorded.
“We join in the goal of creating an accurate record of all interviews conducted in the course of an investigation,” the assertion mentioned. “However, we firmly believe the introduction of electronic recording devices into witness interviews is more likely to hinder the investigation process than it is to improve it. Not only may the recording of interviews lead to less candid responses from those witnesses who may choose to proceed under such requirements, but the existence and potential availability of interview recordings upon conclusion of an investigation will tend to lead many otherwise willing crew members to elect not to participate in interviews at all. Either outcome would not serve to advance the goal of conducting effective investigations in order to promote aviation safety.”
The union says the interviews must be “fact-finding” and never adversarial.
“We are confident that an acceptable solution to this issue exists that would satisfy the needs and concerns of all parties involved in these investigatory interviews,” the union wrote.
Source: www.cnn.com