The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which is busy investigating recurrent cases of air-misses, is ignoring certain fundamental problems that plague airports in India.

The two busiest international airports—Mumbai and Delhi—have understaffed and overworked Air Traffic Control (ATC) departments. According to an assessment in 2009, the country needs 4,600 air traffic controllers but the available strength is only 1,500. "The sanctioned strength is 3,100 controllers all over India. There are 200 controllers working in Mumbai and 244 at Delhi airport. However, the required number is at least 400 for each of these airports," a senior Airports Authority of India (AAI) official said.

The discovery last February that some Spanish air traffic controllers were paid as much as €900,000, or nearly $1.2 million, set off media outrage in a country with an unemployment rate of 20 percent, an average yearly salary of €18,087, and an economy among the weakest in Europe.
“Half earn more than double the salary of a government minister,” said an editorial in the newspaper El Mundo, which described the situation as “scandalous,” while an editorial cartoon showed Emilio Botín, the chairman of Banco Santander, Spain’s largest bank, studying to become an air traffic controller.
For the air traffic controllers, in contrast, the public demonization feels like a scapegoating campaign whipped up unfairly by the government, in part to hide its own failings.

Wednesday 21st July is the date announced for an air traffic control strike across France, affecting up to 50% of flights.

Five unions representing civil aviation workers have given notice of a strike from the evening of the 20th through to the morning of the 22nd - the DGCA which represents the unions will confirm actions on Monday.

The unions are calling for strike in protest against a proposal to cut up to 500 jobs in a streamlining process that is said to be necessary for the merge of European air traffic control.

For those planning to fly to or from the Alps next week are likely to face delays and cancellations because of this strike.

A near collision between two El Al planes coming in to land at Ben-Gurion International Airport is being investigated by the Transportation Ministry. The two planes came dangerously close to each other last Friday morning, when at least 10 incoming flights were kept circling due to traffic overload, officials said.
Haaretz reported earlier this week that delays before landing included a risk of running out of fuel, with one El Al flight starting preparation for landing in Amman.

In his autobiography, Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger writes about US Air Flight 1549 landing in the Hudson River and what prepared him for that moment. According to Sully, his journey to the Hudson River on January 15th 2009 began decades ago in rural Texas where he first learned to fly at the age of sixteen. Read more

Solar storms emit energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation that interfere with the Earth’s magnetic field. A once-a-century super solar storm is expected in 2012 and threatens to knock out major technological infrastructure, including electricity grids, radio communications and navigation satellites. Read more

The US Federal Aviation Administration has cleared the way for cars to fly with their approval of the Terrafugia Transition a.k.a. flying car or roadable aircraft. With this approval, the Massachusetts based Terrafugia Inc. has revealed that it will launch its flying cars to customers by late 2011. Read more

Strong crosswinds are the focus of an investigation into why an airliner with 110 passengers ran off a runway in Denver, but the actions of air traffic controllers and the flight's captain have also been questioned, National Transportation Safety Board documents show.
The board is scheduled to meet Tuesday to determine the cause of the Dec. 20, 2008, crash of Continental Airlines Flight 1404. The plane was in its takeoff roll at Denver International Airport when it suddenly veered left off the runway, hurtled across a field, broke into pieces and was engulfed in flames.
No one was killed, but 37 people were injured.
The air traffic controller who cleared the plane for takeoff told pilots there was a crosswind of 31 mph, which was the reading on one of two wind sensors nearest the runway. However, the controller didn't mention that the other wind sensor was recording gusts of as much as 46 mph.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Regarding the July 5 front-page story "Close calls on the rise in the skies over D.C.":

The mission of the Federal Aviation Administration is to keep the skies safe for the flying public, and we are doing just that. Experienced and well-trained air traffic controllers safely guide millions of aircraft every year across our country and here in the D.C. area. The article makes an unsubstantiated correlation between air traffic controller experience levels and safety. The overwhelming majority of controllers at the Potomac Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facility have at least 10 years of experience.

A 120-seat United Airlines plane bound for Reagan National Airport from Chicago narrowly avoided colliding with a business jet departing from Dulles last Monday, the latest of 22 recent potentially dangerous mistakes by air traffic controllers who command the skies above Washington.

The United Airbus 319 was within 15 seconds of colliding with a 22-seat Gulfstream jet before, an internal FAA document shows, an onboard warning system ordered the pilots to take evasive action. The United pilot reported seeing the smaller jet pass just behind him.

"It's the air traffic controller that's supposed to control this situation, not" the onboard warning system, said John DeLisi, deputy director of aviation for the National Transportation Safety Board. "When it had to kick in and do its thing, that wasn't a good controller."