Aircraft Incident Record: Japan Airlines Flight 1628, November 17, 1987

This document is an official FAA Aircraft Incident Record (Form 8020-5) detailing an encounter between Japan Airlines Flight 1628 and unidentified aerial traffic on November 17, 1986. The flight, an all-cargo Boeing 747, was traveling from Keflavik, Iceland, to Anchorage, Alaska. At 0219 UTC on November 18, the captain reported unidentified traffic at the aircraft's altitude, approximately one mile in front of the plane. The report notes that the unidentified traffic was subsequently detected on the aircraft's weather radar and was also observed intermittently by the Anchorage Center and the Military Regional Operations Center. According to the narrative provided by the investigator, Jerry Paterson, the unidentified traffic remained in the vicinity of the JAL flight throughout a series of descents and turns, including a 360-degree turn. The encounter concluded at 0253 UTC when the crew reported that the traffic was no longer in sight. The document includes a table of contents listing various supporting materials, such as transcripts of interviews with the flight crew (Captain Terauchi, First Officer Tamefuji, and Flight Engineer Tsukuba), a written statement and drawing by the captain, and relevant ATC tapes and reports. The record serves as a formal summary of the incident for the FAA, documenting the crew's observations and the corroborating radar data.