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Air Safety's Quality ControlSubmitted by _control on Fri, 09/05/2008 - 08:39.
Original news story: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121021574186076231.html?mod=...More planes are flying than ever before, but the number of people who do everything from piloting them to fixing them isn't keeping pace. The growing shortage is raising fresh concerns about air safety. categories:
Tower controllers to blame for fatal helicopter crash in Torrance, judge rules![]() Submitted by loulou on Thu, 08/05/2008 - 15:51.
Original news story: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-torrance7-2008may07,...Air traffic controllers at Torrance Municipal Airport made a critical mistake that caused two helicopters to collide in front of the control tower in 2003, killing two men in one chopper and seriously injuring the pilot of the other, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper's ruling Monday in Los Angeles directly contradicted a report by the National Transportation and Safety Board that concluded the surviving pilot, Gavin Heyworth, was to blame for the crash. Cooper determined that both pilots "properly relied upon and complied with the control instruction they were given by" air traffic controller Edward Weber. They acted "negligently and carelessly" in failing to keep "adequate vigilance and positional/situational awareness of the air traffic at and around Torrance Airport," Cooper wrote. And Weber "failed to issue clear and concise instructions" to Heyworth. categories:
Airline Emissions: Even Worse Than You Think![]() Submitted by Jean46 on Thu, 08/05/2008 - 15:49.
Original news story: http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/05/airline-emissio.htmlForget everything you've heard about airlines and CO2 emissions. The news is much worse than anyone thought. A recently disclosed report finds that airlines are spewing 20 percent more carbon dioxide into the environment than previously estimated and the amount could hit 1.5 billion tons a year by 2025. That's far more than even the worst-case predictions laid out by the International Panel on Climate Change. If you're looking to put that number in perspective, the European Union currently emits 3.1 billion tons of CO2 annually. Yup, that's the entire 27-nation, 457 million person EU. categories:
Near-Misses A Concern, Result Of Understaffing![]() Submitted by dallas on Tue, 06/05/2008 - 20:48.
Original news story: http://www.wlwt.com/news/16166929/detail.htmlThree near-misses in the past two weeks have raised concerns at Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. “We've had three instances over the past three weeks (that) I would consider to be serious, situations that certainly could have been avoided,” said Jason Hubbard of the air traffic controllers union. He said that, in each instance, passenger planes came much too close together for comfort. A passenger jet crossed in front of another last Friday, Hubbard said, and a departing plane came too close Wednesday to another plane that had just taken off. “(The pilot) went 90 degrees into the wake turbulence, and that's just like running into a tornado,” Hubbard said. He said the airport has reduced staffing in air traffic control towers from 84 several years ago to 59 controllers, and Hubbard blamed the near-misses on controller fatigue. categories:
Barbados controllers problemsSubmitted by _control on Tue, 06/05/2008 - 20:47.
Original news story: http://www.nationnews.com/story/329397409972950.phpAir Traffic Controllers at the Grantley Adams International Airport staged a major sick-out yesterday. They were complaining about under-staffing, work pressure and out-of-date equipment. The airport's administrative staff and instructors were pressed into service to fill the vacuum and an emergency meeting was set up for this morning with the minister and other relevant authorities with a view to settling the dispute. A spokesman for the controllers who requested anonymity said that for too long the air traffic control section had been undermanned and overworked. "We are tired. We are sick. We have been working long hours the whole year," the spokesperson said. Given the greater frequency of airline flights and a larger volume of work, Barbados needs at least 72 air traffic controllers to manage the airport, "but we now have 34 doing the job of 72", the spokesman said. categories:
Fault-Finding in Dallas Between Controllers and Pilots Becomes a Problem for the F.A.A![]() Submitted by Giorgos on Mon, 28/04/2008 - 14:39.
Original news story: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/25/washington/25faa.html?_r=1...Air traffic control supervisors in Dallas, caught in 2005 hiding instances in which planes had passed too closely, switched to blaming pilots for the incidents when they were actually the controllers’ fault, aviation officials said. categories:
Air Traffic Controller Sounds AlarmSubmitted by _control on Mon, 28/04/2008 - 14:38.
Original news story: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1735387,00.ht...A very interesting interview by an ATCO in the TIME magazine. categories:
FAA: Dallas controllers falsified reports![]() Submitted by loulou on Sat, 26/04/2008 - 08:55.
Original news story: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2008-04-24-faa-dallas...Dallas air-traffic controllers hid dozens of safety errors that allowed planes to fly too close together, federal officials said. categories:
Mystery blip: Mid-air scare for Indian PM's plane![]() Submitted by 2_b_or_not on Wed, 23/04/2008 - 20:47.
Original news story: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Mid-air_scare_for_P...For an excruciating half hour, the intelligence agencies' worst fears of a rogue plane trying to attack a VVIP flight seemed to have come true on Tuesday evening when PM Manmohan Singh's plane was coming in to land at IGI airport from Ranchi. The VVIP IAF plane, which flies in sterile airspace with no other aircraft being allowed anywhere near it, had locked into instrument landing system to touch down at IGI after 6pm. At this moment, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) suddenly noticed a blip on the radar — indicating an unidentified aircraft — very close to the PM's Boeing 737. The ATC immediately alerted the aircraft which disengaged from ILS and was asked to take a go-around (circle over airport) till security and aviation agencies were able to pin down the cause of the blip. Finally, the plane landed safely, 15 minutes after its scheduled time, at IGI. categories:
FAA: Air Traffic Controllers Making More Mistakes![]() Submitted by dallas on Tue, 22/04/2008 - 17:15.
Original news story: http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/apr/22/me-air-traffic-mista...Air traffic controller mistakes that allow planes to fly too close together are occurring at a faster rate in Tampa and at airports nationwide than a year ago, Federal Aviation Administration data released Monday show. categories:
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