A Lockheed spokesman said in an interview that workers were free to describe their health problems but not their work.

"It might cause people with deep experience to stay longer," said James Fetig, a Lockheed spokesman.

A Lockheed spokesman said the company did not know how it would be affected.

"The potential for 126 jets is a significant program," said Tom Jurkowsky, a Lockheed spokesman.

(A Lockheed spokesman declined to talk about the contract for this article, saying the company considered the matter closed.)

The cause was cancer of the esophagus, a Lockheed spokesman said.

"They'd done quite a lot of work on it by the time we joined the team," Robert Burgess, a Lockheed spokesman, said today.

A Lockheed spokesman said the company was continuing to talk to the Government.

A Lockheed spokesman said the company had no comment on the filing.

Charles Manor, a Lockheed spokesman, said he anticipated no Congressional problems with the deal.