Dozens of near misses between planes in the US over the past month highlight the alarming number of incidents that have occurred this year.
There were 46 “close calls” in July, according to Federal Aviation Authority reports, and airline officials fear it’s only a matter of time before a devastating incident happens in the US.
Recent examples include several cases of planes nearly colliding on takeoff or landing at major US airports. Others involve a mid-air near miss between two planes traveling at more than 800 km/h.
Industrial workers blame the shortage of air traffic controllers, which forces many in the profession to work mandatory overtime. The demands of the job have left some burned out and even turning to alcohol and sleeping pills to relieve stress.
A staggering 99 percent of air traffic control facilities in the US are understaffed, according to the New York Times. 310 out of 313 institutions do not have enough workers. Some of these, including the regional facility in New York and a high-rise in Philadelphia, employ about 60 percent of the workforce or less.
On July 2, when a Southwest Airlines flight landing at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport was seconds from colliding with a Delta Airlines 737 preparing to take off from the same runway
On July 11, two planes taking off from San Francisco almost crashed into a Frontier Airlines plane that had just landed. The Frontier jet waited to cross a runway, its nose dangerously close to the trajectory of the two jets
A third incident two and a half weeks later involved a near miss between an American plane and a United Airlines plane near Minden, Louisiana
Among the incidents the Times uncovered in reviewing preliminary FAA incident reports from July is one from July 2, when a Southwest Airlines flight landing at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport just seconds after colliding with a Delta Airlines 737 passed preparing runway for takeoff.
The Southwest flight aborted its landing and narrowly avoided a crash.
On July 11, two planes taking off from San Francisco almost crashed into a Frontier Airlines plane that had just landed. The Frontier jet waited to cross a runway, its nose dangerously close to the trajectory of the two jets.
Officials said the encounters were “up close”.
A third incident two and a half weeks later involved a near miss between an American plane and a United Airlines plane near Minden, Louisiana. The American pilot was flying at more than 500 miles per hour and had to quickly pull the Airbus A321 plane up 700 feet to avoid a collision.
There hasn’t been a major plane crash in the United States for more than a decade. While fatal incidents involving small private planes can occur several times a year, the last fatal U.S. airline crash occurred in 2009 when Colgan Air Flight 3407 from Newark, New Jersey, to Buffalo, New York, crashed House in Clarence Center, New York crashed killing all 49 people on board and one person on the ground.
Details of other incidents, as well as worker complaints about the industry, are also stored in a NASA database. Those voluntary submissions include a recent report from a flight captain who said in November, “This stuff scares the shit out of me.”
The pilot reported an incident where an air traffic controller allowed his flight to land on what appeared to be a “collision course” with another flight.
In another report in January this year, an air traffic controller wrote: “Will it take people to die for anything to move forward?”
FAA spokesman Matthew Lehner told the Times that existing safety protocols have “virtually eliminated the risk of fatalities aboard US commercial airliners.”
But he said, “One close decision is too much” and the FAA’s goal is to reduce the number of these incidents.
“The FAA maintains extremely conservative standards for the safe separation of aircraft,” he said.
“Safety experts track all events – even those where there was no threat of collision or even possible – and assess them for safety risks.”
Air traffic controllers told the FAA that the staff shortage was “just plain dangerous.”
A safety report submitted last year stated: “Inspectors make mistakes everywhere.” Fatigue is extreme. The margin of safety has increased tenfold. Morale is at rock bottom. “I find myself taking risks and taking shortcuts that I would normally never take.”
On January 13, a near miss occurred at JFK Airport when a Delta plane about to take off had to perform an emergency stop after an American Airlines plane crossed the runway
“It’s only a matter of time before something catastrophic happens,” the inspector said.
Earlier this month, details emerged of a scary near miss between a JetBlue plane that landed at Boston’s Logan International Airport and a private jet that took off without a permit.
The National Transportation Safety Board announced on Feb. 27 that the incident was captured in a chilling photo from the JetBlue plane’s cockpit, showing the LearJet plane blocking the runway as it landed.
Only the quick wits of the pilot of JetBlue Flight 206 prevented a collision, investigators said. The pilot performed an “escape manoeuvre” to narrowly avoid the other aircraft.
The 63-year-old captain of the LearJet, who flew for Hop-A-Jet, a Florida-based private charter company, had been ordered to queue and reread the air traffic controller’s instructions. But the pilot “then began the takeoff flight instead.”
He later told investigators, “I can’t understand what happened to me during the eviction. All I can think of is that the cold temperatures in Boston bothered me, I wasn’t quite feeling well and I had a stuffy nose.’ Sorry.’
One February 27 incident was captured in a chilling photo from the cockpit of a JetBlue plane, showing a LearJet plane blocking the runway as it landed
Only the quick wits of the pilot of JetBlue Flight 206 prevented a collision, investigators said. The pilot performed an “escape maneuver” to narrowly avoid the other aircraft (circled)
He only found out about the near miss when he arrived at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport. The crew of the private jet were told they “takeoff without clearance, causing an aircraft cleared to land on Runway 04 to go around and pass approximately 400 feet overhead.”
The report on the incident stated: “The National Transportation Safety Board is determining the probable cause(s) for this incident: The Hop-a-Jet flight crew took off without clearance, resulting in a conflict with a JetBlue Flight conducted.’ had been cleared to land on an intersecting runway.’
The JetBlue plane, an Embraer 190, was just 30 feet off the ground and approaching the intersecting runway when the two planes came closest.
The frightening incident followed a string of other near misses at US airports this year, prompting experts to warn that the industry could face “the greatest disaster in its history” if the trend doesn’t reverse.
The JetBlue plane, an Embraer 190 like the one pictured, landed at Boston’s Logan International Airport on February 27 when it nearly crashed into a private jet
The 63-year-old captain of the LearJet – a plane similar to the one pictured – told investigators: “I cannot understand what happened to me during clearance. The only thing that comes to mind is that the cold temperatures in Boston had an impact.” I wasn’t feeling very well and had a stuffy nose. Excuse me’
In February, a FedEx Boeing 767 cargo plane landing at Austin-Bergstrom International came within 100 feet of a Southwest Airlines 737 plane taking off from the same runway.
Analysts say it was only the FedEx pilot’s quick wits that prevented a collision.
The incident follows a similar near miss at John F. Kennedy International in New York City on Friday, January 13, when a Delta aircraft was forced to an emergency stop during takeoff while an American Airlines aircraft was crossing the same runway.
Aviation expert and pilot Juan Browne said, “These types of incidents are increasing at an alarming rate.”
“There is a huge turnover in the industry, not only among pilots but also among air traffic controllers, mechanics, maintenance personnel and rampers. And given the current state of hiring practices and training, and relentless efforts to get things done faster, cheaper and more efficiently, we are just a radio call away from the greatest aviation disaster in history.”
In both the JFK and Austin Bergstrom incidents, experts indicated that the air traffic controllers’ instructions appeared to be a problem.
Kit Darby, an aviation consultant and former United Airlines pilot, told that he believes safety protocols are sufficient to prevent near misses, but added: “It’s a very large, very complicated system that relies on people, and people make mistakes.’