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- Near misses between aircraft are becoming increasingly common.
- The FAA administrator told Congress how the committee is considering the utility of sleep science.
- A shortage of air traffic controllers means mandatory overtime leads to fatigue.
Last year, the New York Times found that near misses between aircraft are occurring more frequently than previously thought.
In January 2023, an American Airlines plane taxied onto the runway at JFK Airport as a Delta Airlines plane was about to take off.
And in July, an Allegiant Airlines flight attendant was injured when the plane suddenly launched upwards to avoid a nearby private jet at the same altitude.
Despite the best efforts of pilots and air traffic controllers, collisions sometimes occur.
In early February, two JetBlue planes collided in a de-icing area at Boston Logan International Airport, with the wing of one crashing into the tail of the other. It was the third plane crash at the airport in a year, but no one was injured.
The danger of this was made clear in January when a Japan Airlines A350 collided with a small plane on the runway at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, causing a fire.
At a February 5th Congressional hearing, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration discussed how the agency is working to prevent these accidents.
Mike Whitaker said near misses and runway incursions (meaning when a plane is incorrectly positioned on the runway) were his first areas of investigation when he took over as administrator last October. .
Whitaker added that the FAA is considering “improving airport signage and redesigning runways and taxiways.”
An FAA spokesperson told Business Insider that the plan includes “technologies that provide controllers with the ability to improve situational awareness and reduce runway incursions,” such as devices that provide audible and visual warnings to air traffic controllers. He said he is doing so.
In January, the National Transportation Safety Board released the results of its investigation into a plane crash at JFK Airport a year ago. The captain was distracted and confused by instructions from the air traffic controller, and the co-pilot lost track of the plane’s location.
A collision was avoided when the controller yelled at the pilot of the other plane to abort the takeoff.
“Overall, our data shows that runway entry rates have been trending downward recently,” Whitaker said.
“But we must continue to focus on and invest in this priority if we are to achieve zero runway incursions.”
air traffic control fatigue
One of the main causes of near misses is the heavy workload of air traffic controllers.
Rich Santa, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, previously told Business Insider that many controllers work 10-hour days, six days a week.
And the Times reported that some air traffic controllers are resorting to alcohol and sleeping pills to cope with the grueling schedule.
Long hours and irregular shifts also cause fatigue, leading to further problems at airports, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy pointed out during a Senate hearing last November.
“Air traffic controllers are required to work mandatory overtime,” she says. “That ultimately leads to fatigue and distraction, which is exactly what we see as part of these incident investigations. And it all comes back to understaffing.”
A government audit released in June last year found that 77% of critical ATC facilities were understaffed.
Former NATCA President Paul Rinaldi told Forbes that the shortage began in 2013 due to funding restrictions due to budget seizures.
“They shut down the air traffic control academy,” he said. “They have reduced operating hours and reviewed many air traffic facilities. They have considered closing and reducing more than 100 federal contract towers and canceled most modernization projects.”
It is also known to be a very difficult job and requires a lot of training. When the world was hit by the coronavirus pandemic, many training programs were suspended and controller certification was delayed.
The FAA is trying to address the shortage in a variety of ways, including streamlining training programs.
An FAA spokesperson said the agency is “accelerating the recruitment of air traffic controllers by moving to year-round hiring of experienced controllers from the military and private industry” and increasing training using updated simulators. He said that
“We continue to work on integrating our culture, processes, systems and safety initiatives to maintain our excellent safety record,” they added.
A panel was also set up to review air traffic controller fatigue.
“The committee will consider how the latest science on sleep needs and fatigue considerations can be applied to air traffic controller work requirements and schedules,” Whitaker said during a Congressional hearing.
This includes “risks associated with controller fatigue due to schedule changes and excessive overtime.”
For pilots and flight attendants, dealing with fatigue is more pronounced as they travel through different time zones, unlike air traffic controllers, where exhausting work schedules are the biggest risk.
Boeing developed an “alert model” used in an app called CrewAlert that anyone can download to assess fatigue risk.
“The primary purpose is for aircraft crews operating complex schedules,” Brad Slack, Boeing’s vice president of digital aviation solutions, told BI at last year’s Paris Air Show.
“We are changing multiple time zones, disrupting schedules and forcing airlines to replan their locations,” he added. “We don’t just operate schedules based on economics, we also consider crew fatigue.”
Now, air traffic controllers’ sleep schedules seem to be receiving even more attention. This is not because time zone changes are unavoidable, as pilots do, but because the job is extremely demanding.
Do you work in air traffic control? Feel free to contact this reporter: psyme@businessinsider.com
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