PILOT SAYS JAL LIED OVER COCKPIT SAFETY

Asia's number one carrier, Japan Air Lines, is facing a multi-million dollar wrongful dismissal lawsuit brought by a pilot and flight engineer.

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A former senior pilot with the Japan Airlines System subsidiary JALWAYS, American Jack Crawford, today (March 28 2003) accused the airline's Tokyo-based spokesman Geoffrey Tudor of "lying through his teeth" over a lawsuit the pilot has brought against JAL

Captain Crawford and Flight Engineer Martin Ventress are suing JAL in a multi-million dollar lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, accusing the airline of ending their contracts unfairly.

They say that on a flight from Bangkok to Osaka nearly two years ago they witnessed Jeff Bicknell, a clearly-distressed and unwell co-pilot, being ordered by the aircraft's commander, Captain Kazuo Hanami, to attempt to land a fully-laden DC-10 jet airliner A SECOND TIME after he failed to land the plane safely on the first approach.

They saw flight engineer Tony Freiberg carry Bicknell from the cockpit to the aircraft's lavatory twice during the flight - and the pilot passed out several times during the Bangkok-Osaka trip.

Said Captain Crawford today: "Tony was a responsible airman and he did his duty by advising Hanami per the JAL operations manual, telling him he believed Jeff Bicknell, the co-pilot, was unwell and unfit to fly the aircraft. Freiberg's feelings were so strong that he had two serious arguements with Captain Hanami, who completley ignored his advice."

Three days later, on another flight from Hawaii to Japan, Bicknell was again flying a DC-10 with Captain Hanami - who is JALways vice president, pilot and designated safety expert - in overall charge of the flight. Bicknell passed out three times in the cockpit after becoming sick and was rushed to hospital after landing. He was diagnosed with having a brain tumour and has never flown since.

Tudor said recently that Captain Crawford and Mr Ventress were "attempting to try this case in the media in an effort to manipulate the public's fear of flying and damage JAL's reputation" - but Crawford angrily hit back yesterday.

He said: "That is absolute nonsense. We filed reports about what happened on these flights because we did not want to see a disaster happen, in which many people could have died, unless JAL addressed these serious issues of safety.

"The people at JAL know full well that what we saw aboard those flights actually did happen, and the commander of the aircraft, Captain Kazuo Hanami, undoubtedly placed the aircraft and 300 passengers and crew in grave danger.

"We have consistently tried to point out these serious matters to JAL, in writing and in person. They refuse to listen and instead are now branding us liars because they know that what we witnessed in the air indicated great negligence on the part of the airline."

He pointed out that Captain Hanami had signed a document, as is customary before a flight, to say that all crew members were fit and well and had no medical disabilities that would preclude them from flying aboard the giant jet.

Under International Aviation Law the Captain of an aircraft about to depart must attest to the mental and physical health of all crew members before signing a flight plan.

Yet Jeff Bicknell, who was on the flight as co-pilot but would effectively be in charge of take-off and landing during his checks for promotion to captain, was already unwell prior to take-off from Bangkok.

On the earlier flight inbound to Bangkok before the major incident with
Bicknell, there was a major argument between Hanami and the Duty Flight Engineer with regard to Bicknell's health.

That argument continued at the flight crew operations area during the briefing prior to the departure of the outbound flight #728 to Osaka when Freiberg again advised Hanami that Bicknell was sick.

"He clearly expressed his personal concerns for taking the flight with Bicknell as co-pilot, fearing for his own safety as well as for the safety of 300 fare-paying JALways passenges on board. The fact that everyone got off that flight alive and safe after Jeff Bicknell's two hard-landings owes absolutely nothing to Captain Hanami, who should never have allowed Jeff to land the aircraft," said Crawford.

Lawyer Martin Cervantes, representing Crawford and Ventress, said: "My clients were flying in the first-class cabin, on-duty, when they saw that Mr Bicknell was clearly in no fit state to fly a plane."

And he added: "Yet Captain Hanami, who is a safety officer, did not call upon the assistance of my client Jack Crawford, who was fully qualified to fly the DC-10 and was sitting in the first-class cabin behind the cockpit, in uniform and on-duty, ready and willing to help.

"This disregard for normal flight safety procedures - even under JAL's own rules - indicate a flagrant and negligent disregard for the lives of all on board."

Geoffrey Tudor, the Director of International Public Relations for JAL in Tokyo, said that despite the fact that co-pilot had passed out several times and was clearly ill: "In this case it was not recognised that there was an emergency."

But Jack Crawford denies Tudor's version of what happened: "He wasn't there - I was. And for the record I will state on oath that Captain Hanami was told many times that Jeff Bicknell was too ill to fly that DC-10. If Hanami couldn't recognise an emergency when he saw one, then he shouldn't be flying either, in my opinion. JAL is engaging itself in a massive cover-up by pretending these things never happened."

JAL and JALways, while acknowledging the lawsuit, said the case was totally baseless but Tudor agreed: ""According to JAL rules, in an emergency when a crew member falls sick, the captain must land his plane at the nearest available airport or replace the individual with someone else."

But he was unable, or unwilling, to say why Captain Hanami had done neither of these things when the co-pilot was clearly incapacitated.

In the suit Crawford and Ventress also claim they were harrassed by their employers and unfairly lost their jobs after complaining about the alleged safety breaches, which they say happened under the command of Captain Kazuo Hanami.

Hanami has refused to discuss these incidents and refers all press enquiries to JAL in Tokyo.

For a copy of the lawsuit and all other queries please contact:

Media Management South-East Asia

Tel: 66-1-778-4844

E-mail address: ianblack7@yahoo.com

You can reach JAL via:

Geoffrey Tudor
Director, International Public Relations
JAPAN AIRLINES
Tel: 81-3-5460-3109
Fax:81-3-5460
e-mail geoffrey.tudor@jal.com