NIGHT TKOF WITH TCASII ISSUING FALSE INFO. CFTT.

Narrative

WHEN CLRED FOR TKOF ON RWY 25R AT LAX TCASII ANNUNCIATED A SOLID WHITE CIRCLE DIRECTLY OVER THE ACFT SYMBOL ON THE TCASII SCOPE WITH A PLUS 4/PLUS 5 (400 TO 500 FT) ABOVE OUR ALT. AS BEST AS I CAN RECALL THIS ANNUNCIATION REMAINED OVER THE ACFT SYMBOL THROUGHOUT THE TKOF UNUSUAL ATTITUDE AND RECOVERY. I NOTED A HELI FLYING TO THE S OF RWYS 25L/R AND THIS ACFT WAS ALSO ANNUNCIATED ON TCASII. TKOF WAS UNEVENTFUL UNTIL 800 FT AGL -- WHEN THE PF CALLED FOR NORMAL CLB CHKLISTS (AFTER GEAR UP; FLT LEVEL CHANGE; SET SPD; FLAPS 5 DEGS; CLB PWR). AS I PERFORMED THESE TASKS; MY EYES LEFT THE ADI AND OTHER INSTS. I ALSO TURNED ON STROBES AND XCHKED ENG INSTS. ACFT ATTITUDE AT THE TIME OF FLAP RECONFIGN WAS WINGS LEVEL; 15 DEGS NOSE UP; CLBING AT 1500-2000 FPM. WHEN I RETURNED MY XCHK TO THE FLT INSTS; I SAW THE FOLLOWING ATTITUDE 5-10 DEGS L BANK; NOSE 4-5 DEGS NOSE BELOW HORIZON; FLT DIRECTOR BARS COMMANDING UP AND R; AIRSPEED INCREASING RAPIDLY THROUGH 180 KTS; ALT DECREASING THROUGH 650 FT AFL/MSL. RECOGNIZING AN UNUSUAL ATTITUDE; I COMMANDED 'CLB!!' THE GPWS ISSUED A MODE 3 ALERT -- AURAL ALERT; 'DON'T SINK;' 3 TO 5 TIMES BEFORE CLB WAS RESUMED. AFTER PF REVERSED SINK TO CLB I NOTED PARALLEL DEP TFC OFF RWY 24L. THIS ACFT WAS NOT A FACTOR IN THIS INCIDENT; AS FAR AS TCASII ALERTS OR PROX TO THE ACFT. BASED ON MY OBSERVATIONS AND JUDGEMENT OF THE PF AND TCASII; HERE IS WHAT I THINK OCCURRED. TCASII WAS SHOWING A FALSE ECHO DIRECTLY OVER THE ACFT THROUGHOUT TKOF; 'TFC; TFC' AURAL TCASII ALERT OCCURRED AT WT OFF WHEELS. DUE TO LIGHT REFLECTION OFF OF THE FRONT WIND SCREEN; I THINK THE PF (SITTING IN THE L SEAT) SAW THE REFLECTION OF LIGHTS AND MAYBE PARALLEL TFC OFF THE R SIDE OF THE ACFT IN THE FRONT WINDSCREEN AND FOCUSED SOLELY ON THIS AS HE PUSHED OVER; TO AVOID THIS PHANTOM ACFT. I NEVER SAW ANY ACFT NEAR US TO DICTATE THIS ACTION; AND THE TCASII TFC OVERHEAD JUST 'DISAPPEARED' ONCE WE CLBED TO 1000-1500 FT AGL. LAX TWR NEVER CALLED OUT ANY CONFLICT; ONLY PARALLEL DEP TFC; WHICH WAS WELL CLR! PREVENTION? XCHK AT NIGHT ESPECIALLY; TKOF AT LAX AND ELSEWHERE.