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I have written about the poor training, maintenance and oversight at smaller regional airlines before (here and here). Now, ABC News has reported on another flying danger — young, inexperienced air traffic controllers. According to the ABC News report, one out of four air traffic controllers are novices who are barely out of training.
The report includes references to several near-hits, including:
- May 21, 2010 — Anchorage, Alaska: a controller directed a USAirways crew to turn into the flight path of a departing plane
- April 28, 2010 — Houston, Texas: a Southwest Airlines pilot had a near-hit incident with a Bell 407 helicopter and reported that "it sounded like there was confusion between [the helicopter pilot and the tower controller] about what direction he was supposed to head after takeoff".
There have been 22 near-hit incidents in the skies above Washington, DC this year. This problem will continue to grow as airlines expand routes and increase flights.
