"While there is no conclusive finding in the safety report," the officer said, "they are mentioned as possibilities. I can't get into specifics, I can't go any further." The revelations from the safety report stand in sharp contrast to the Air Force's public accident report, which never discussed the two devices in its 700 pages. (When a plane crashes, the Air Force conducts two investigations. One, called the accident report, is public. The other, called the safety report, has broader powers--such as granting immunity to witnesses--and is kept secret.) The admissions were all but lost, however, in the show put on by the Air Force, which brought 12 high-ranking officers, including one three-star and three two-star generals, to Portland. The Oregonian, in fact, reported that there were no significant differences between the public accident report and the secret investigation, failing to note that one section of the safety reports allows experts to suggest possible crash causes--something the accident report does not do. The day started with a briefing for family members of the King-56 crew at the Portland office of Sen. Ron Wyden, who had grown frustrated by the Air Force's unresponsiveness to the widows' questions. Wyden became so irritated at the Air Force that he held up Senate confirmation of the nation's top soldier last month in order to get some answers. The tactic apparently worked, though the Air Force would not admit that political pressure was behind the visit. "We're here for the families," Gideon cooed. It was all part of a spit-polished script, says military-safety critic John Nance, an ABC News aviation analyst and retired Air Force pilot. On the rare occasions when the Air Force faces tough questions, says Nance, you can count on the Pentagon to roll out the big brass to quell suspicions. "They teach this; they rely on this," Nance says. "They walk out a three-star in an impeccable uniform, who puts on this very serious fatherly face and says, in nice round tones, 'There, there, we understand you have worries, but we've already gone over this.'" Though the generals were in Portland ostensibly to comfort King-56 families, critics such as Nance and Alan Diehl believe the Air Force was pursuing a different mission: protecting its investigation system from reforms. The system--which allows the Air Force to investigate itself and keep its findings secret--has come under attack from Oregon's senators. Diehl, once the top civilian safety expert in the Air Force, has long called for military crashes to be investigated by an independent agency like the National Transportation Safety Board. Diehl believes that the Air Force's recent concessions to the King-56 widows are "a clever way to protect 'privilege'"--the Air Force term for the law that allows them to keep safety reports secret. "It's nice that the Air Force is apparently no longer putting the widows on hold," says Diehl. "But it's also obvious that this is just a well-managed public relations effort designed to divert attention from the bigger issues." Gayle Schott, widow of the King-56 pilot, agrees. "Oh, absolutely," Schott says. "I'm sure it was all plotted and strategically planned and it doesn't address the big picture." But Schott says she was "encouraged" that top generals met with the widows and that the Air Force has launched two separate reviews of the C-130 electrical system, which includes the synchrophaser and temperature datum amplifier. "It felt like we were all on the same page and committed to evaluating certain systems of the aircraft," says Schott. Still, Schott and Laura Wellnitz, widow of the King-56 navigator, say they are not giving up the crusade to change the Air Force's investigation system. "In memory of my husband and his commitment to the military, I just can't walk away," Schott says. "Some of us will be there to keep the fire burning and do whatever we can, so no other family members have to go through 10 months of life-altering struggle to get what should have been available in the first place." "If I have to go to the floor of Congress, I will do it," says Wellnitz. "There is no doubt." |
