Personal Injury Blog

NTSB Blames Near Miss Plane Crash on Air Traffic Controller Error

January 26th, 2012
Air Traffic Controller Error

The NTSB says that air traffic controller errors were to blame for a near-miss incident involving a passenger jet and a small propeller plane at a Mississippi airport last year.

Yet another near miss plane safety incident is being blamed on air traffic controller error.  The National Transportation Safety Board says that air traffic controller errors were to blame for a near-miss incident involving a passenger jet and a small propeller plane at a Mississippi airport last year.

The incident happened at the Gulfport-Biloxi airport in Mississippi.  Fortunately, the incident did not result in any loss of life or a crash.  However, the planes were close enough for the pilot of the passenger plane to comment on how close the two aircraft were.  The National Transportation Safety Board blames errors made by the controllers at the Gulfport Biloxi Airport for the incident.

According to the investigation, the air traffic controller, who happened to be a veteran of the Federal Aviation Administration, had been the traffic controller in charge at the airport.  However, his duties also included providing on-the-job training to other controllers on the job.  Soon after this particular incident occurred in June last year, he was suspended, but since then, he has been recertified, and has begun working again.

This incident occurred during a time when the number of air traffic controller errors reported from around the country had reached a peak.  Many of these errors were blamed on fatigued traffic controllers who fell asleep on the job, or who bungled up seriously enough for two planes to come close to each other.  Air traffic controller fatigue has since then catapulted into a major aviation safety issue, although none of the errors that were traced to air traffic controllers sleeping on the job, ended in any major aviation safety incident.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, in the Mississippi incident the air traffic controller in question cleared a Cessna 172 at for takeoff on one runway at the airport.  Just a few seconds later however, he cleared an ExpressJet Flight 2555 another runway.  Both of these planes were on intersecting flight paths.  The 2 planes passed within 300 feet of each other.

California plane crash lawyers have not been surprised to find that the Federal Aviation Administration is continuing its lackluster response to the growing concerns surrounding air traffic controller error. According to the agency, there have been several management changes made at the airport, after this particular incident.  The National Air Traffic Controllers Association however has said that it will take the findings from the National Transportation Safety Board seriously, and will work together with the Federal Aviation Administration to eliminate serious errors.

Posted by Robert Reeves at 5:59 pm: No comments

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