Military, civilian planes nearly collide

Military and civilian aircraft came disturbingly close last Wednesday afternoon in the skies between Saipan and Tinian.

According to documents obtained by Saipan Tribune detailing the incident, two unidentified military C-130s came directly at and passed unannounced within 300 feet of a Star Marianas twin-engine plane.

The Star Marianas pilot was flying about 1 mile offshore coming across the channel toward Tinian, south of the approach to runway 7’s instrument landing system, or ILS, from Saipan.

The pilot was flying passengers and was 1,500 feet at standard altitude and routing flown by Star Marianas, according to the document. The plane was still within the Saipan tower’s airspace, or Delta airspace.

“… I suddenly spotted one C-130 coming directly at me from the direction of Northfield at my altitude and definitely within Delta airspace,” said the Star Marianas pilot, whose name was redacted from the report.

The C-130 was followed by another C-130, which was slightly off the lead C-130’s left wing, the pilot said.

Both planes had nose-high altitude and were climbing in the pilot’s direction, the pilot stated.

The C-130s came directly through the standard altitude and routing flown by commercial planes between the islands.

“I called tower and reported that a C-130 was coming at me and stated it passed within about 300 feet of my aircraft and asked if they knew about that aircraft being there. The tower stated that they had not known and that the aircraft had just called them,” the pilot said.

The pilot noted that military aircraft often use ultra-high frequencies, or UHF frequencies, that civilian aircraft do not have. This makes civilian aircraft unable to hear communication from military aircraft when they use these frequencies.

The pilot said that if the Saipan tower’s comments regarding the communication with the military aircraft was correct, both C-130s had violated the requirement to establish communication with the tower “prior to entering the Delta airspace, as my aircraft and theirs were clearly inside the Delta airspace when the incident occurred.”

In an interview close to press time, Star Marianas president Shaun Christian confirmed the details the pilot had reported.

He said they look to the Federal Aviation Administration to see what the next course of action is, as they recently reported the incident to the FAA office in Guam, as a “near midair collision,” or NMAC.

NMAC is defined as “an incident associated with the operation of an aircraft in which a possibility of collision occurs as a result of proximity of less than 500 feet to another aircraft,” or a report that stated a collision hazard existed between two or more planes.

Christian said the plane so far had not been unidentified and that it is believed it came from the military branches involved in last month’s Cope North exercise.

He said the plane was grey colored.

Christian called the incident a “communication problem,” as it was unclear whether the military had duly informed the Saipan tower of its approach into civilian airspace.

“According to our pilot, no announcement had been made prior to entering Delta airspace,” he said.

“There needs to be procedures and plans for better communication” between the military and the local airport, he said.

This air incident comes at a time when both Saipan and Tinian airport activity continues to increase, according to Star Marianas.

Saipan averages 298 flights per day, and Tinian averages 137 flights per day, for a combined 350 flights, according to Star Marianas. Some days there are more than 400 civilian commercial flights conducted within the 10 miles of airspace between the islands of Saipan and Tinian, Star Marianas claims.

“Adding military into that airspace, which is already nearly saturated at times, is creating unacceptable levels of risk, especially given the limited resources provided to the tower and ATC [air traffic control].”

Star Marianas noted that if flight operations continue to grow, ATC must be provided with radar to help ensure adequate separation of traffic, as is done in Guam.

The airline recommends that the military be held responsible for compliance with the rules and regulations required by the FAA.

They recommend that military flight operations should not interfere with civilian traffic operating between Saipan and Tinian, and that the military should refrain from climbing through the standard civilian flight path between islands.

Saipan Tribune contacted the Commonwealth Ports Authority to identify the C-130 planes, and verify if the military did not actually call the tower in due time, but no answer or additional details could be had before press time.