Report criticises FAA for allowing air traffic control errors to rise

Airline Industry Information, Dec 20, 2000

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2000 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been criticised for its management of air traffic controllers, and in particular for the figures showing that air traffic control errors have risen by 51% over the last five years.

A report released by the Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General stated: 'FAA has been ineffective and not shown a sense of urgency in reducing operational errors.' The time frame for the report was October 1995 to September 2000, during which time mistakes involving violations of minimum aircraft spacing requirements (or near-misses) increased from 764 to 1154, Reuters reported. The severity of the incidents was not reported.

The greatest increase in air traffic control errors occurred at the Washington Air Route Traffic Control Centre in Leesburg, Virginia, which reported an increase of 325%. This was followed by a 300% increase in errors at Miami Airport's approach control station and a 250% increase at Washington-Dulles International Airport. Improvement however was shown at the Southern California approach control facility, which reported a 40% decrease in operation errors over the last four years.

The FAA has indicated that it is working to reduce the errors, with a spokesperson for the agency stating, 'We actively encourage reporting and have taken adverse action against personnel who intentionally cover-up operational errors.'

A spokesperson for the National Air Traffic Controllers criticised the report for not looking at what was causing the errors, such as staffing levels, fatigue and work schedules, which it claims would be useful for addressing the problem. The union was supportive of a recommendation that the FAA record the severity of any incident.

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