Tag Archives for air traffic control.
On Saturday morning, Delta Air Lines flight 1070 from Detroit and United Airlines flight 1724 from San Francisco came perilously close to colliding above Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Despite bad air traffic control instructions, the aircrafts’ onboard Traffic Collision Avoidance Systems (TCAS) alerted the pilots in time, preventing what could have been a catastrophic accident.
One week ago, air traffic control screwed up in San Diego, clearing two Southwest Airlines flights onto the same runway at the same time, leading to a high-speed aborted takeoff – but which could have been much worse.
American Airlines flight 2587 from Chicago O’Hare to Austin had a near-miss with a 1979 Cessna R182 that passed it with just about 400 feet of vertical separation on Wednesday.
The American Boeing 737 had been alerted to the traffic in the area, but lost it descending into fog on final approach. They responded to a traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) alert as the Cessna flew directly into their approach path, almost right below.
Tensions between Nigeria and Libya have flared after Libya seemingly used air traffic control to gain an edge in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying soccer match between the two national teams.
Nigeria’s national team was flying to Benghazi – and had its permission to land pulled at the last minute, sending them to an airport 135 miles away (that wasn’t even their diversion airport) and denying them accommodations on the ground where they were left stuck for about 19 hours. Nigeria’s Super Eagles ultimately declined to play the match.
Meanwhile, all of Nav Canada facilities went electronic 15 years ago (and all control towers and TRACONs even earlier). Their solution is used in Australia, Italy, the U.K. and Dubai. We could license the Canadian solution, or other commercial ones, but instead the FAA has been working contracting for their own solution since three years before the Beastie Boys were fighting for your right to party.
A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 came within 150 feet of the water while still 3 miles out from Tampa airport. Flight 425 from Columbus diverted to Fort Lauderdale.
An American Airlines Airbus A319 had a near miss at Washington’s Reagan National airport on Wednesday. Flight 2134 to Boston was cleared for takeoff on runway 1, while a King Air was cleared to land. Air traffic control realized their mistake, cancelling takeoff clearance for the American Airlines flight – and telling the King Air to abort and go around. They couldn’t because they were already on the ground.
On May 6, air traffic control cleared American Airlines flight 2473 to take off for Dallas. Then – immediately after – the same air traffic controller cleared Frontier 1734 from Denver to cross the same runway to head towards its gate.
The FAA’s air traffic controller shortage, particularly acute in New York due to inadequate staffing incentives and high rejection rates of new controllers, has led to flight delays, reduced schedules, and higher airfares, with recent political and logistical efforts to address the crisis facing resistance – from Senator Chuck Schumer.
French air traffic controllers have won the right to show up for work three hours late and knock off work three hours early; a raise of more than $19,000; 18 more days off each year; and retirement pensions at age 59.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
