Near-misses “highest in 12 years"

Air traffic controllers have been partly blamed for a increase in aircraft near-misses that saw incidents rise to the highest level in 12 years. According to a report in The Times, more than half the reported incidents involved mistakes by air traffic control workers – but the newspaper points out that they are now handling a record 2.2 million flights a year compared to 1.5 million 10 years ago. The newspaper reports that there were 109 incidents in the first half of 2004 in which controllers reported that safety had been compromised – compared to a figure of 85 for the previous year. According to the UK Airprox Board, which investigates near-misses, controllers’ “poor judgement” was the greatest cause, while “confusion or poor co-ordination” was second. The newspaper quotes National Air Traffic Services (Nats) as saying that two new systems were currently being introduced to improve safety. David Luxton, of the controllers union Prospect, is quoted as saying that Nats is still short of 35 air traffic controllers to make up numbers: “The situation has improved but controllers are still having to do overtime to make up for the shortages and the pressure on them is high.” Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad Ltd www.newsfromabroad.com