Page:CAB Accident Report, Eastern Air Lines Flight 663.pdf/7

Rh you say you're at three?" The flight reported leaving 4,500 feet and acknowledged the heading change. At 1824:48 the AR-3 controller requested PAA 212 to report leaving each 500-foot level down to 3,000 feet and advised the flight of traffic at 11 o'clock six miles southeastbound just climbing out of 3,000 feet. PAA 212 reported leaving 4,000 feet and four seconds later at 1824:56, advised, "We have the traffic." At 1825:37, in response to another inquiry from AR-3 concerning the air-craft's altitude, PAA 212 reported out of 3,500 feet whereupon at 1825:47 the flight was instructed to turn left heading 360 degrees and to contact approach control on 118.4 mcs. The frequency change was accomplished and at 1826:06 PAA 212 established communications with the final vector controller (AR-1). The flight was advised of its observed position (13 miles southeast of the airport) and asked its altitude. PAA 212 replied at 1826:12 "Level at 3,000" (feet) whereupon the AR-1 controller cleared the flight to descend to 2,000 feet and maintain a 360-degree heading. This clearance was not acknowledged. At 1826:19 an exclamation appeared on the communications recording tape the sound of which is described as "Yeoh." The transmitter from which this exclamation emanated remained on the air and the carrier background hum was identical in pitch and volume to that associated with all previous and subsequent transmissions from PAA 212.

At 1826:23 and again at 1826:39 the AR-1 controller attempted to obtain an acknowledgment for the descent clearance and heading assignment. At 1826:42 a crewmember aboard PAA 212 reported a "close miss" with another aircraft. He asked the AR-1 controller, "Did you have another target in this area at this same spot where we were a minute ago southbound?" When the AR-1 controller advised him that he did and that the traffic was no longer visible on his radar scope, PAA 212 replied at 1827:10 "It looks like he's in the bay then, because we saw him, he looked like he winged over to miss us and we tried to avoid him, and we saw a bright flash about one minute later." At 1827:25 another voice (later identified as that of the captain of PAA 212) stated ". . . he was well over the top of us and it looked like he went into an absolute vertical turn and kept rolling." Kennedy Approach Control provided radar vectoring service for inbound PAA 212 while Kennedy Departure Control provided radar vectors for outbound EAL 663.