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Airline Close Calls Happen Far More Often Than Previously Known
So far this year, close calls involving commercial airlines have been happening, on average, multiple times a week, according to a Times analysis of internal F.A.A. records, as well as thousands of pages of federal safety reports and interviews with more than 50 current and former pilots, air traffic controllers and federal officials. The incidents often occur at or near airports and are the result of human error, the agency’s internal records show. Mistakes by air traffic controllers —… (www.nytimes.com) More...
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I wish I could read the article, but the NYT's pay wall blocks it.
I agree Flight aware should not use links to paid sites
I find this NYT's article informative and fairly accurate, with the EXCEPTION of their assertion of the ROOT CASUE.. Understand that my direct knowledge of the situation with air traffic is nearing fifteen years old. A couple of personal thoughts/opinions:
*These "Operational Errors", official FAA term for occurrences of less than standard separation, occur perhaps dozens of times on a daily basis.
* More incidents are reported today for a number of reasons, but mainly as a result of immunity from any type of prosecution afforded pilots and controllers if the incident is self reported. Immunity has not always been the case.
* As the article pointed out, many reports are not independently corroborated.
* Pilots and Controllers relying too heavily on automation to do their jobs
* Controllers have always assumed a martyrs attitude, since it enhances their stature and financial well being; i.e the sky is always falling. Some examples from the NYT article:
“Is it going to take people dying for something to move forward?”
“Controllers are making mistakes left and right. Fatigue is extreme,” the report continued. “The margin for safety has eroded tenfold. Morale is rock bottom. I catch myself taking risks and shortcuts I normally would never take.”
“It is only a matter of time before something catastrophic happens.”
* I can vouch for the fact, staffing at the busier ATC facilities has been an issue since at least 1969 when I hired on with the FAA; i.e. this is not a new phenomena.
more personal thoughts on the root of more recent staffing problems later.
* I have never heard it termed "The Rattler", but the Controller work schedule listed is that preferred and primarily instituted by the union, since it provides more time off between the last shift of the week and the first day of the next workweek.
* I would DISPUTE the NYT assertion about the root of the problem. The system was rebuilt following the August 3, 1981 Professional Air Traffic Controller (PATCO) strike.
Air-traffic control shortages predate the FAA’s current leadership. Though I am not a fan of the current administration, I challenge anyone to find a time in modern history when major Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Air Traffic Control facilities were fully or even close to being fully staffed. While a Controller at Chicago O'Hare (ORD) in the early to mid 1970s, I don't recall the journeyman level staffing exceeding 50% -60% of what was authorized.
The primary problem is that the FAA is a government agency and operates at the whim of politicians. As a result, hiring has always been sporadic, even though since 1972 (Public Law 92-297) the FAA knows definitively what impact retirement will have on the workforce since a Controller is required to retire at age 56, but fail to hire replacements accordingly.
To further exacerbate the situation, in December 2013, the FAA dropped the preference for College Training Initiative (CTI) graduates (your brother graduated from the Community College of Beaver County which was one of the first CTI schools) and instead relied only on a biographical questionnaire to fill controller positions. Those colleges believe the FAA changes were made based on an agency diversity study that examined the race and gender of CTI graduates. Established by the FAA in1982, the CTI was a very successful college training program eventually enlisting 28 colleges to provide initial air traffic control training. Prior to December 2013, many colleges, such as the Community College of Beaver County, maintained a minimum of a 6 month long waiting list to enter the program. After the December 2013 change a number of these schools discontinued the ATC curriculum due to a lack of students. In fiscal year 2020, the Air Traffic Controller Hiring Reform Act was enacted in an attempt to rectify the problems incurred as a result of the December 2013 decision. The recent law now gives preference to those who have graduated with a four-year degree from a CTI school or have parallel military ATC experience. However it will take years to overcome the 2013 fiasco; i.e. hiring individuals who might not have had the ability and motivation to due the job. In the meantime "the chickens are coming home to roost", in the form of increased incidents.
Prior to 1973, individuals who had been Controllers in the military were a primary source of hirees for the FAA. Since the end of the Vietnam War, and the end of the "Draft", the military is no longer a significant contribution to FAA staffing.
*These "Operational Errors", official FAA term for occurrences of less than standard separation, occur perhaps dozens of times on a daily basis.
* More incidents are reported today for a number of reasons, but mainly as a result of immunity from any type of prosecution afforded pilots and controllers if the incident is self reported. Immunity has not always been the case.
* As the article pointed out, many reports are not independently corroborated.
* Pilots and Controllers relying too heavily on automation to do their jobs
* Controllers have always assumed a martyrs attitude, since it enhances their stature and financial well being; i.e the sky is always falling. Some examples from the NYT article:
“Is it going to take people dying for something to move forward?”
“Controllers are making mistakes left and right. Fatigue is extreme,” the report continued. “The margin for safety has eroded tenfold. Morale is rock bottom. I catch myself taking risks and shortcuts I normally would never take.”
“It is only a matter of time before something catastrophic happens.”
* I can vouch for the fact, staffing at the busier ATC facilities has been an issue since at least 1969 when I hired on with the FAA; i.e. this is not a new phenomena.
more personal thoughts on the root of more recent staffing problems later.
* I have never heard it termed "The Rattler", but the Controller work schedule listed is that preferred and primarily instituted by the union, since it provides more time off between the last shift of the week and the first day of the next workweek.
* I would DISPUTE the NYT assertion about the root of the problem. The system was rebuilt following the August 3, 1981 Professional Air Traffic Controller (PATCO) strike.
Air-traffic control shortages predate the FAA’s current leadership. Though I am not a fan of the current administration, I challenge anyone to find a time in modern history when major Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Air Traffic Control facilities were fully or even close to being fully staffed. While a Controller at Chicago O'Hare (ORD) in the early to mid 1970s, I don't recall the journeyman level staffing exceeding 50% -60% of what was authorized.
The primary problem is that the FAA is a government agency and operates at the whim of politicians. As a result, hiring has always been sporadic, even though since 1972 (Public Law 92-297) the FAA knows definitively what impact retirement will have on the workforce since a Controller is required to retire at age 56, but fail to hire replacements accordingly.
To further exacerbate the situation, in December 2013, the FAA dropped the preference for College Training Initiative (CTI) graduates (your brother graduated from the Community College of Beaver County which was one of the first CTI schools) and instead relied only on a biographical questionnaire to fill controller positions. Those colleges believe the FAA changes were made based on an agency diversity study that examined the race and gender of CTI graduates. Established by the FAA in1982, the CTI was a very successful college training program eventually enlisting 28 colleges to provide initial air traffic control training. Prior to December 2013, many colleges, such as the Community College of Beaver County, maintained a minimum of a 6 month long waiting list to enter the program. After the December 2013 change a number of these schools discontinued the ATC curriculum due to a lack of students. In fiscal year 2020, the Air Traffic Controller Hiring Reform Act was enacted in an attempt to rectify the problems incurred as a result of the December 2013 decision. The recent law now gives preference to those who have graduated with a four-year degree from a CTI school or have parallel military ATC experience. However it will take years to overcome the 2013 fiasco; i.e. hiring individuals who might not have had the ability and motivation to due the job. In the meantime "the chickens are coming home to roost", in the form of increased incidents.
Prior to 1973, individuals who had been Controllers in the military were a primary source of hirees for the FAA. Since the end of the Vietnam War, and the end of the "Draft", the military is no longer a significant contribution to FAA staffing.
I agree with almost everything you wrote here with the exception of the military as a source comment. I recently retired from a 33 year (active duty and civilian) career in the USAF. The military is still a primary source for the FAA. Military facilities make up many of the approach controls around the country and they are all staffed at 60 percent or less of authorized manpower.
Another aspect not covered in the NYT article was the freeze on new hires back in the Clinton administration. The FAA actually shut down their training facility in OKC for over 2 years during that period and while it isn't a direct cause, it did exacerbate the situation. They have struggled to get their training numbers back to the earlier days.
If you add inexperienced pilots to inexperienced controllers, then an increase in errors and incidents is all but guaranteed to occur. The FAA has some tools at its disposal to reduce controller workloads and improve the overall system but have failed to receive the proper funding to put them into the field.
Another aspect not covered in the NYT article was the freeze on new hires back in the Clinton administration. The FAA actually shut down their training facility in OKC for over 2 years during that period and while it isn't a direct cause, it did exacerbate the situation. They have struggled to get their training numbers back to the earlier days.
If you add inexperienced pilots to inexperienced controllers, then an increase in errors and incidents is all but guaranteed to occur. The FAA has some tools at its disposal to reduce controller workloads and improve the overall system but have failed to receive the proper funding to put them into the field.
Paywall - can’t read the article.
been awhile since I was ATC... but had a few instances, as a tower controller, where I screwed up or a pilot did...most were resolved over a land line ...and no reports... are there more occurrences now? or just becoming part of the news cycle until something else grabs their attention??
