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Kentucky air crash turns safety spotlight on controllers
The crash of Comair flight 591 killing virtually everyone aboard has put a new spotlight on safety and raised questions about the work schedules of air traffic controllers.
The early morning crash at the Blue Grass Airport in Kentucky led to the death of 49 of 50 people after the plane landed on a the wrong runway, one too short to accommodate it.
Reports following the incident said the controller there worked two shifts in 24 hours, a practice denounced by some experts.
“This is a bad schedule from a human performance point of view,” Gregory Belenky, director of the Sleep and Performance Research Center at Washington State University, told USA Today.
The controller said at the time of the accident he only had two hours sleep.
But a separate issue was two controllers handling double-duty: simultaneously directing airplanes on the ground and monitoring air traffic by radar.
With the airlines trying to control costs, traffic controllers are increasingly taking on both roles — which is creating more dangerous flying conditions in more and more airports, critics say.
“The FAA is short staffed at O’Hare, Atlanta and Dallas towers. If you don’t have enough people, you either can’t provide the service or can’t maintain the safety margin,” said Ruth Marlin, executive vice president for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.
There are 1,081 fewer controllers now than there was three years ago, according to the FAA or Federal Aviation Authority.
“Overall, across the country, we do not have a shortage of air-traffic controllers,” FAA chief Marion Blakey told a news conference in Louisville, site of the crash.
Other air traffic controllers said it was common for them to have a quick shift turnaround and get little or no sleep.
Several Congressmen are asking for a review of the sleep issue as well as whether or not there are enough controllers.
The FAA recently announced plans to hire 930 new controllers.
Report by David Wilkening
David
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