Luckymommyx2
Wishing you a magical day
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I wonder how often things like this happen and none of the passengers know about it. I just copied the article and pasted it here.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...03,0,7536710.story?coll=orl-newsaol-headlines
Mistakes increase at airport
An incident involving 2 jets at Orlando International focuses attention on air-traffic errors.
Beth Kassab | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted March 3, 2006
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An air-traffic-controller error sent a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 and an AirTran Airways Boeing 717 on a near-collision course at Orlando International Airport last week, bringing to light a recent spate of air-traffic errors at Florida's busiest airport.
Alarms sounded in both cockpits to alert the pilots that the airliners were within 300 vertical feet of each other, and they each took action to correct their paths.
It is the seventh operational error to occur at Orlando International since the beginning of the 2006 fiscal year on Oct. 1, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
During the 2005 fiscal year, there were three operational errors, according to an FAA spokesman, and just one in 2004.
"The controller basically thought he had activated some function to view the arrival targets, but in fact he had not. So, he gave instructions to the Southwest plane to climb through the airspace that the AirTran plane was coming toward," said FAA spokesman Les Dorr.
The increase in operational errors -- controller mistakes that could range from misdirecting a pilot on the runway to unintentionally setting planes on a collision course in the air -- could be the result of the dramatic increase in air traffic under the supervision of Orlando's radar monitors, the FAA and air-traffic controllers said.
"We're busier than we have ever been," said Mark Koon, an air-traffic controller in Orlando and representative of the National Air Traffic Controller's Association. "We're doing the best we can. We're working longer and harder with an increase in traffic."
Koon said he was unfamiliar with last week's incident and would not comment on specific operational errors.
The most recent close call unfolded at about 9,000 feet just after 4 p.m. Feb. 23. Southwest Flight 2847 was taking off and AirTran Flight 111 was coming in for a landing, Dorr said.
The aircraft were separated by 300 feet vertically and about three-quarters of a mile horizontally, he said, triggering a collision alarm in the cockpits. Passengers on the flights -- each plane holds about 100 people -- likely were unaware any problem occurred, he said.
The FAA did not classify the incident as a "near midair collision" because the aircraft were more than 500 feet apart laterally, Dorr said.
AirTran spokeswoman Judy Graham-Weaver said she could not comment without more information about the incident. A spokesman for Southwest could not be reached for comment.
The FAA conducts an investigation of each operational error.
The FAA would not immediately release details of the other six operational errors since Oct. 1, but Dorr said that some were likely the result of a new radar system and increased traffic at Orlando International, which last year saw 34 million passengers.
The controllers in the Orlando tower are responsible for air traffic up to an altitude of about 16,000 feet from Leesburg to Melbourne.
"We're talking about seven operational errors, and to date the tower has handled 363,000 operations [since Oct. 1]," Dorr said. "In the big picture of things, that's a very small number and not out of line with what happens at other air-traffic facilities across the country."
The Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System, known as STARS, was installed Oct. 2, replacing the tower's old monotone radar technology.
The new system, a federal project that is running more than four years behind schedule and expected to cost $1.4 billion, replaces the old with color monitors and the ability to track more aircraft and weather systems.
Dorr said four of the seven errors occurred within 30 days of the new radar system's installation.
However, Koon of the air-traffic controllers union said an overstretched work force is more of a concern than the new system. He said about a third of the Orlando staff is scheduled to retire in the next year.
"They need to put young folks in place of us old folks who are leaving," he said.
FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the Orlando tower is looking to hire six experienced air-traffic controllers. Currently, she said, there are 71 people on staff, three below what is called for in the union contract.
Air-traffic controllers are "in position," or directing traffic, for an average of five hours and 15 minutes per eight-hour shift. That average has grown from four hours and 15 minutes in the past few weeks as traffic has increased, she said. The remaining time in the shift is devoted to meals and breaks.
The agency's goal, she said, is for the controllers to be in position for five hours and 30 minutes to six hours per shift.
"While in the rest of the country as a whole traffic has decreased, traffic in Orlando has gone up 2 percent," Dorr said.
Beth Kassab can be reached at bkassab@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5448.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...03,0,7536710.story?coll=orl-newsaol-headlines
Mistakes increase at airport
An incident involving 2 jets at Orlando International focuses attention on air-traffic errors.
Beth Kassab | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted March 3, 2006
RELATED STORIES
U.S. security agency rehires OIA airport screeners
Mar 2, 2006
Airport wants to land customs
Feb 22, 2006
An air-traffic-controller error sent a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 and an AirTran Airways Boeing 717 on a near-collision course at Orlando International Airport last week, bringing to light a recent spate of air-traffic errors at Florida's busiest airport.
Alarms sounded in both cockpits to alert the pilots that the airliners were within 300 vertical feet of each other, and they each took action to correct their paths.
It is the seventh operational error to occur at Orlando International since the beginning of the 2006 fiscal year on Oct. 1, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
During the 2005 fiscal year, there were three operational errors, according to an FAA spokesman, and just one in 2004.
"The controller basically thought he had activated some function to view the arrival targets, but in fact he had not. So, he gave instructions to the Southwest plane to climb through the airspace that the AirTran plane was coming toward," said FAA spokesman Les Dorr.
The increase in operational errors -- controller mistakes that could range from misdirecting a pilot on the runway to unintentionally setting planes on a collision course in the air -- could be the result of the dramatic increase in air traffic under the supervision of Orlando's radar monitors, the FAA and air-traffic controllers said.
"We're busier than we have ever been," said Mark Koon, an air-traffic controller in Orlando and representative of the National Air Traffic Controller's Association. "We're doing the best we can. We're working longer and harder with an increase in traffic."
Koon said he was unfamiliar with last week's incident and would not comment on specific operational errors.
The most recent close call unfolded at about 9,000 feet just after 4 p.m. Feb. 23. Southwest Flight 2847 was taking off and AirTran Flight 111 was coming in for a landing, Dorr said.
The aircraft were separated by 300 feet vertically and about three-quarters of a mile horizontally, he said, triggering a collision alarm in the cockpits. Passengers on the flights -- each plane holds about 100 people -- likely were unaware any problem occurred, he said.
The FAA did not classify the incident as a "near midair collision" because the aircraft were more than 500 feet apart laterally, Dorr said.
AirTran spokeswoman Judy Graham-Weaver said she could not comment without more information about the incident. A spokesman for Southwest could not be reached for comment.
The FAA conducts an investigation of each operational error.
The FAA would not immediately release details of the other six operational errors since Oct. 1, but Dorr said that some were likely the result of a new radar system and increased traffic at Orlando International, which last year saw 34 million passengers.
The controllers in the Orlando tower are responsible for air traffic up to an altitude of about 16,000 feet from Leesburg to Melbourne.
"We're talking about seven operational errors, and to date the tower has handled 363,000 operations [since Oct. 1]," Dorr said. "In the big picture of things, that's a very small number and not out of line with what happens at other air-traffic facilities across the country."
The Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System, known as STARS, was installed Oct. 2, replacing the tower's old monotone radar technology.
The new system, a federal project that is running more than four years behind schedule and expected to cost $1.4 billion, replaces the old with color monitors and the ability to track more aircraft and weather systems.
Dorr said four of the seven errors occurred within 30 days of the new radar system's installation.
However, Koon of the air-traffic controllers union said an overstretched work force is more of a concern than the new system. He said about a third of the Orlando staff is scheduled to retire in the next year.
"They need to put young folks in place of us old folks who are leaving," he said.
FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the Orlando tower is looking to hire six experienced air-traffic controllers. Currently, she said, there are 71 people on staff, three below what is called for in the union contract.
Air-traffic controllers are "in position," or directing traffic, for an average of five hours and 15 minutes per eight-hour shift. That average has grown from four hours and 15 minutes in the past few weeks as traffic has increased, she said. The remaining time in the shift is devoted to meals and breaks.
The agency's goal, she said, is for the controllers to be in position for five hours and 30 minutes to six hours per shift.
"While in the rest of the country as a whole traffic has decreased, traffic in Orlando has gone up 2 percent," Dorr said.
Beth Kassab can be reached at bkassab@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5448.
