Opinion ID: 709078
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Phase II Pattern Tests

Text: 43 Butler next identifies as false statements the Phase II Test Report's general representation that pattern tests of the pilot's radio were done at 10 to 12 nautical miles and 1200 feet altitude. Butler argues that at least two test flights were actually done at closer distances. Yet he also alleges that the Army witnesses' reports stated that the tests were flown at closer distances, and MDHC points to testimony that the tests were the subject of discussion between MDHC and the Army, and the Army's AVSCOM technical representatives knew of and approved the short tests. 44 We hold that the Army knew that the summary statement of the distances at which the pattern tests were conducted was not strictly accurate as to all the tests, and that this discrepancy was the subject of dialogue between the Army and MDHC. The only reasonable conclusion is that this was not a knowingly false statement, as the noncomplying tests were known to and approved by the Army. 45 Butler also points to discrepancies within the report itself, such as the substitution of Flight # 827 for # 822. He labels these as falsified results from tests of the FM band for the pilot's radio, but does not demonstrate why they are knowingly false statements rather than clerical errors. He also labels as a false claim the pilot's radio patterns in the Phase II Test Report, because there were more data points in the Test Report than had appeared in an interim report a year earlier. Butler argues that the discrepancy must mean that data was falsified, but as MDHC points out, the Army had both the interim and final report, and the data are comparable in shape and readings despite the differences in the number of data points. We hold that Butler did not present evidence that rationally supports the conclusion that MDHC falsified data. Even if the discrepancy constituted a false statement, the Army knew of the discrepancy, and so MDHC did not knowingly submit a false claim. 46 Butler then complains that given the ambient noise at the ground station, the patterns for Flight # 370, attached to the Phase II Test Report, must be false. He cites no evidence to support this, and MDHC points to testimony that the recorded points were all above the ambient noise level. Butler next questions the accuracy of a table charting a range test result in the Phase II Test Report, but as MDHC points out, the Army had the flight test reports which noted a garbled signal, and the table itself stated that several frequencies were less than satisfactory. We hold that these statements are not false.