Narrative:

Airline's director of marketing came to us (the foundation) and asked us to escort in flight XXX, a B747 to honor the captain who was retiring. Captain has been flying this B24 liberator for several yrs and is a good man and a friend, so I agreed to do it since it was approved by the airline, briefed by both crews and coordinated by ATC. We intercepted the B747 over the inbound VOR at 3000 ft instead of the normal 8000 ft arrival ht. Flew with them to msp and did a low approach. There is, of course, a speed differential between a B24 and B747, as there is much wake turbulence so we never were close to the B747, 1500 ft maybe at the closest. Since it was pre-briefed and set up by airline management, even paid for by them, I never knew that any of this was illegal. It may have been out of the ordinary, but we are quite used to flying formation with our 2 wwii bombers. Supplemental information from acn 407998: my position is international relief captain on the B747 aircraft. Since I am type rated in the aircraft, I act as the PIC when I relieve the regular captain. On the second segment, kix-msp, I was the PIC for the last 2 hours and 48 mins. However, the retiring captain took over as the descent was initiated so that he could accomplish the landing. I went back to the cabin and took a seat in the first class section for the remainder of the flight. While we were on final approach at about 3000 ft, I was surprised to see a B24 flying a very loose formation on our right wing. The B24 soon disappeared out of my view toward the front of our aircraft. I had no prior knowledge that this 'formation' was to occur. Supplemental information from acn 408132: we were on radar vectors from minneapolis approach control. At that time I became aware that another aircraft, a world war ii B24 'liberator' was being vectored toward us. The WX was very clear. I spotted the other aircraft above us at our 11 O'clock position at an estimated 8-10 mi distance and on an apparently reciprocal course from ours. I pointed it out to the captain and the first officer, who also saw it then. The B24 started a left turn which placed it somewhere behind us upon completion. During this period, it became apparent that the B24 and minneapolis approach control were attempting to position the B24 into position off our right side and parallel with our flight path using a variation of a military 'point-parallel' rendezvous, a procedure I have flown at least 200 times, so I was relatively comfortable with this particular maneuver. About this time we were instructed by either approach control or else by the B24 crew to contact the B24 crew on an additional VHF radio and frequency. When the first officer did so, the B24 crew informed us that they were attempting to station-keep on our right side to take photographs, but were having problems because the B24 was speed-limited. We were asked to slow down to help with this. The captain reduced speed about 10 KIAS to accommodate the other aircraft. The discussion the captain and first officer had via radio with the B24 crew revealed that it was a pre-arranged rendezvous being flown by acquaintances of the captain as a salute to him on his last commercial flight prior to retiring. It was also evident by now that this operation had been coordinated by my captain's son -- one of the capts in our cockpit -- who was now urging us to continue. Approach control and then the minneapolis tower told us we were cleared to fly over the minneapolis airport in a parallel confign (except that by now the B24 appeared to have 1/4 to 1/2 mi forward separation and a 1/2 mi lateral separation and perhaps 400 or 500 ft vertical separation, all of which made it easy to avoid him). We were told that after passing the airfield we would each separate and climb. The B24 would proceed straight ahead, and we would come left to pick up vectors to a landing runway. The first officer verbally objected to this entire matter but continued his duties. I, too, was uneasy with these events, but I never felt anyone was endangered during this operation. The B24 never closed to less than distances commonly used in parallel runway procedures, and the WX was excellent. There seemed to be considerable evidence that this entire procedure had been coordinated by airline,minneapolis approach control, the msp tower, and an observer captain who was in the jump seat watching this happen. In short, it appeared to have been coordinated through all parties involved -- except the three primary B747 crew members. I was irritated at the time that this rendezvous was occurring without prior coordination with us, but that other agencies and the B24 crew knew of it. Even a crew was filming it. We were never advised of the procedures to be used nor even briefed that the rendezvous would be conducted. Inter-plane communications were difficult with approach control being used on one radio and inter-plane being used on another. It should be noted, too, that this was happening at the end of an 11 day-long trip and at the end of an 11+ hour flight, and we were all tired. I was also concerned that we were wronging our customers by extending their flight time by several mins beyond what was necessary and that they might be startled by an unexpected missed approach. To that end, I did make a PA announcement to them that we would be 'overflying the airport and then maneuvering for a landing on a favorable runway' about 5 mins from the airport. I certainly would like to receive and intend to seek explanations from my airline's flight operations department and all other parties who coordinated it as to why they felt it was appropriate to leave an involved flight crew out of the planning loop. 'To surprise and honor a retiring captain' is not an appropriate answer. Supplemental information from acn 407948: I told captain that this was a bad idea, that I did not want to do this. I tried several times to convince him it was not a good thing to do this. He kept on. I tried about 6-7 times to abort this join- up. Tried to get so to join in to tell captain that this was not the thing to do. No avail. I considered taking plane away but was afraid of a cockpit tussle over controls with an unbriefed plane nearby. Considered verbally waiving off B24 but ATC and B24 were unaware that I was trying to abort this activity. I was afraid resulting communication would lead to confusion and danger. The company was insane to approve this. Our flight operations was not even told. ATC was insane to go along. Dispatch was insane. I later learned that not even vice president of flight operations knew about this. How could a public relations vice president agree to this insanity and not call the chief pilot. I told my chief pilot the whole story about the join-up as soon as we landed. I've told pilot's organization safety and pilot's organization legal. This should never happen. How could management, ATC, and dispatch and the B24 company have thought this was a good thing. Supplemental information from acn 408146: I fly a mooney chase plane for two touring wwii bombers. The B24 handled our communications with ATC. The B24 had been assigned a discrete frequency by ATC. As we approached the immediate airport area I heard no response by ATC to the B24 calls on the discrete frequency. I therefore tuned also to the designated frequency for the runway over which we were to fly. I heard no communications to us by ATC on that frequency either. I did not consider there to be any hazardous elements involved but I did have concern over not hearing communications response by ATC.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B24 FLIES IN PROX OF A B747 APCHING MSP FOR PUBLICITY PURPOSES. THE PIC OF THE B747 WAS ON HIS LAST FLT AND THE AIRLINE, HIS SON AND HIS FRIENDS COORDINATED WITH ATC FOR THIS UNREHEARSED FORMATION FLT.

Narrative: AIRLINE'S DIRECTOR OF MARKETING CAME TO US (THE FOUNDATION) AND ASKED US TO ESCORT IN FLT XXX, A B747 TO HONOR THE CAPT WHO WAS RETIRING. CAPT HAS BEEN FLYING THIS B24 LIBERATOR FOR SEVERAL YRS AND IS A GOOD MAN AND A FRIEND, SO I AGREED TO DO IT SINCE IT WAS APPROVED BY THE AIRLINE, BRIEFED BY BOTH CREWS AND COORDINATED BY ATC. WE INTERCEPTED THE B747 OVER THE INBOUND VOR AT 3000 FT INSTEAD OF THE NORMAL 8000 FT ARR HT. FLEW WITH THEM TO MSP AND DID A LOW APCH. THERE IS, OF COURSE, A SPD DIFFERENTIAL BTWN A B24 AND B747, AS THERE IS MUCH WAKE TURB SO WE NEVER WERE CLOSE TO THE B747, 1500 FT MAYBE AT THE CLOSEST. SINCE IT WAS PRE-BRIEFED AND SET UP BY AIRLINE MGMNT, EVEN PAID FOR BY THEM, I NEVER KNEW THAT ANY OF THIS WAS ILLEGAL. IT MAY HAVE BEEN OUT OF THE ORDINARY, BUT WE ARE QUITE USED TO FLYING FORMATION WITH OUR 2 WWII BOMBERS. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 407998: MY POS IS INTL RELIEF CAPT ON THE B747 ACFT. SINCE I AM TYPE RATED IN THE ACFT, I ACT AS THE PIC WHEN I RELIEVE THE REGULAR CAPT. ON THE SECOND SEGMENT, KIX-MSP, I WAS THE PIC FOR THE LAST 2 HRS AND 48 MINS. HOWEVER, THE RETIRING CAPT TOOK OVER AS THE DSCNT WAS INITIATED SO THAT HE COULD ACCOMPLISH THE LNDG. I WENT BACK TO THE CABIN AND TOOK A SEAT IN THE FIRST CLASS SECTION FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE FLT. WHILE WE WERE ON FINAL APCH AT ABOUT 3000 FT, I WAS SURPRISED TO SEE A B24 FLYING A VERY LOOSE FORMATION ON OUR R WING. THE B24 SOON DISAPPEARED OUT OF MY VIEW TOWARD THE FRONT OF OUR ACFT. I HAD NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE THAT THIS 'FORMATION' WAS TO OCCUR. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 408132: WE WERE ON RADAR VECTORS FROM MINNEAPOLIS APCH CTL. AT THAT TIME I BECAME AWARE THAT ANOTHER ACFT, A WORLD WAR II B24 'LIBERATOR' WAS BEING VECTORED TOWARD US. THE WX WAS VERY CLR. I SPOTTED THE OTHER ACFT ABOVE US AT OUR 11 O'CLOCK POS AT AN ESTIMATED 8-10 MI DISTANCE AND ON AN APPARENTLY RECIPROCAL COURSE FROM OURS. I POINTED IT OUT TO THE CAPT AND THE FO, WHO ALSO SAW IT THEN. THE B24 STARTED A L TURN WHICH PLACED IT SOMEWHERE BEHIND US UPON COMPLETION. DURING THIS PERIOD, IT BECAME APPARENT THAT THE B24 AND MINNEAPOLIS APCH CTL WERE ATTEMPTING TO POS THE B24 INTO POS OFF OUR R SIDE AND PARALLEL WITH OUR FLT PATH USING A VARIATION OF A MIL 'POINT-PARALLEL' RENDEZVOUS, A PROC I HAVE FLOWN AT LEAST 200 TIMES, SO I WAS RELATIVELY COMFORTABLE WITH THIS PARTICULAR MANEUVER. ABOUT THIS TIME WE WERE INSTRUCTED BY EITHER APCH CTL OR ELSE BY THE B24 CREW TO CONTACT THE B24 CREW ON AN ADDITIONAL VHF RADIO AND FREQ. WHEN THE FO DID SO, THE B24 CREW INFORMED US THAT THEY WERE ATTEMPTING TO STATION-KEEP ON OUR R SIDE TO TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS, BUT WERE HAVING PROBS BECAUSE THE B24 WAS SPD-LIMITED. WE WERE ASKED TO SLOW DOWN TO HELP WITH THIS. THE CAPT REDUCED SPD ABOUT 10 KIAS TO ACCOMMODATE THE OTHER ACFT. THE DISCUSSION THE CAPT AND FO HAD VIA RADIO WITH THE B24 CREW REVEALED THAT IT WAS A PRE-ARRANGED RENDEZVOUS BEING FLOWN BY ACQUAINTANCES OF THE CAPT AS A SALUTE TO HIM ON HIS LAST COMMERCIAL FLT PRIOR TO RETIRING. IT WAS ALSO EVIDENT BY NOW THAT THIS OP HAD BEEN COORDINATED BY MY CAPT'S SON -- ONE OF THE CAPTS IN OUR COCKPIT -- WHO WAS NOW URGING US TO CONTINUE. APCH CTL AND THEN THE MINNEAPOLIS TWR TOLD US WE WERE CLRED TO FLY OVER THE MINNEAPOLIS ARPT IN A PARALLEL CONFIGN (EXCEPT THAT BY NOW THE B24 APPEARED TO HAVE 1/4 TO 1/2 MI FORWARD SEPARATION AND A 1/2 MI LATERAL SEPARATION AND PERHAPS 400 OR 500 FT VERT SEPARATION, ALL OF WHICH MADE IT EASY TO AVOID HIM). WE WERE TOLD THAT AFTER PASSING THE AIRFIELD WE WOULD EACH SEPARATE AND CLB. THE B24 WOULD PROCEED STRAIGHT AHEAD, AND WE WOULD COME L TO PICK UP VECTORS TO A LNDG RWY. THE FO VERBALLY OBJECTED TO THIS ENTIRE MATTER BUT CONTINUED HIS DUTIES. I, TOO, WAS UNEASY WITH THESE EVENTS, BUT I NEVER FELT ANYONE WAS ENDANGERED DURING THIS OP. THE B24 NEVER CLOSED TO LESS THAN DISTANCES COMMONLY USED IN PARALLEL RWY PROCS, AND THE WX WAS EXCELLENT. THERE SEEMED TO BE CONSIDERABLE EVIDENCE THAT THIS ENTIRE PROC HAD BEEN COORDINATED BY AIRLINE,MINNEAPOLIS APCH CTL, THE MSP TWR, AND AN OBSERVER CAPT WHO WAS IN THE JUMP SEAT WATCHING THIS HAPPEN. IN SHORT, IT APPEARED TO HAVE BEEN COORDINATED THROUGH ALL PARTIES INVOLVED -- EXCEPT THE THREE PRIMARY B747 CREW MEMBERS. I WAS IRRITATED AT THE TIME THAT THIS RENDEZVOUS WAS OCCURRING WITHOUT PRIOR COORD WITH US, BUT THAT OTHER AGENCIES AND THE B24 CREW KNEW OF IT. EVEN A CREW WAS FILMING IT. WE WERE NEVER ADVISED OF THE PROCS TO BE USED NOR EVEN BRIEFED THAT THE RENDEZVOUS WOULD BE CONDUCTED. INTER-PLANE COMS WERE DIFFICULT WITH APCH CTL BEING USED ON ONE RADIO AND INTER-PLANE BEING USED ON ANOTHER. IT SHOULD BE NOTED, TOO, THAT THIS WAS HAPPENING AT THE END OF AN 11 DAY-LONG TRIP AND AT THE END OF AN 11+ HR FLT, AND WE WERE ALL TIRED. I WAS ALSO CONCERNED THAT WE WERE WRONGING OUR CUSTOMERS BY EXTENDING THEIR FLT TIME BY SEVERAL MINS BEYOND WHAT WAS NECESSARY AND THAT THEY MIGHT BE STARTLED BY AN UNEXPECTED MISSED APCH. TO THAT END, I DID MAKE A PA ANNOUNCEMENT TO THEM THAT WE WOULD BE 'OVERFLYING THE ARPT AND THEN MANEUVERING FOR A LNDG ON A FAVORABLE RWY' ABOUT 5 MINS FROM THE ARPT. I CERTAINLY WOULD LIKE TO RECEIVE AND INTEND TO SEEK EXPLANATIONS FROM MY AIRLINE'S FLT OPS DEPT AND ALL OTHER PARTIES WHO COORDINATED IT AS TO WHY THEY FELT IT WAS APPROPRIATE TO LEAVE AN INVOLVED FLC OUT OF THE PLANNING LOOP. 'TO SURPRISE AND HONOR A RETIRING CAPT' IS NOT AN APPROPRIATE ANSWER. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 407948: I TOLD CAPT THAT THIS WAS A BAD IDEA, THAT I DID NOT WANT TO DO THIS. I TRIED SEVERAL TIMES TO CONVINCE HIM IT WAS NOT A GOOD THING TO DO THIS. HE KEPT ON. I TRIED ABOUT 6-7 TIMES TO ABORT THIS JOIN- UP. TRIED TO GET SO TO JOIN IN TO TELL CAPT THAT THIS WAS NOT THE THING TO DO. NO AVAIL. I CONSIDERED TAKING PLANE AWAY BUT WAS AFRAID OF A COCKPIT TUSSLE OVER CTLS WITH AN UNBRIEFED PLANE NEARBY. CONSIDERED VERBALLY WAIVING OFF B24 BUT ATC AND B24 WERE UNAWARE THAT I WAS TRYING TO ABORT THIS ACTIVITY. I WAS AFRAID RESULTING COM WOULD LEAD TO CONFUSION AND DANGER. THE COMPANY WAS INSANE TO APPROVE THIS. OUR FLT OPS WAS NOT EVEN TOLD. ATC WAS INSANE TO GO ALONG. DISPATCH WAS INSANE. I LATER LEARNED THAT NOT EVEN VICE PRESIDENT OF FLT OPS KNEW ABOUT THIS. HOW COULD A PUBLIC RELATIONS VICE PRESIDENT AGREE TO THIS INSANITY AND NOT CALL THE CHIEF PLT. I TOLD MY CHIEF PLT THE WHOLE STORY ABOUT THE JOIN-UP AS SOON AS WE LANDED. I'VE TOLD PLT'S ORGANIZATION SAFETY AND PLT'S ORGANIZATION LEGAL. THIS SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN. HOW COULD MGMNT, ATC, AND DISPATCH AND THE B24 COMPANY HAVE THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD THING. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 408146: I FLY A MOONEY CHASE PLANE FOR TWO TOURING WWII BOMBERS. THE B24 HANDLED OUR COMS WITH ATC. THE B24 HAD BEEN ASSIGNED A DISCRETE FREQ BY ATC. AS WE APCHED THE IMMEDIATE ARPT AREA I HEARD NO RESPONSE BY ATC TO THE B24 CALLS ON THE DISCRETE FREQ. I THEREFORE TUNED ALSO TO THE DESIGNATED FREQ FOR THE RWY OVER WHICH WE WERE TO FLY. I HEARD NO COMS TO US BY ATC ON THAT FREQ EITHER. I DID NOT CONSIDER THERE TO BE ANY HAZARDOUS ELEMENTS INVOLVED BUT I DID HAVE CONCERN OVER NOT HEARING COMS RESPONSE BY ATC.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.