FAA accused of cover-up of flight-control flaws

The Federal Aviation Administration was accused Wednesday of covering up deficiencies in the nation's air traffic control system, including airport computer breakdowns at the rate of one every 63 minutes. The charge was made by US Rep. Bob Whittaker (R) of Kansas, who said he had asked Attorney General Benjamin R. Civiletti and Transportation Department Inspector General Frank S. Sato to investigate.

Mr. Whittaker said official computer printouts showed the computer failures to be up to four times the length of those he had been told about by FAA Administrator Langhorne Bond. He said his investigation disclosed a near-miss between three Air Force jets over southern California which he said had been denied by the FAA until he obtained voice tapes of the incident.