US investigates two runway near misses in Chicago
Fri Mar 24, 2006 7:29 PM ET
WASHINGTON, March 24 (Reuters) - U.S. safety investigators are looking into two runway near misses in Chicago this week, renewing examination of ground safety efforts.
The National Transportation Safety Board said on Friday the incidents occurred on Tuesday afternoon and Thursday morning at O'Hare airport, and highlighted concerns about air traffic controllers' procedures for managing congested runways and taxiways.
In the first incident, a Lufthansa Airbus A319 and an aircraft operated by a regional airline, Chautauqua Airlines, a unit of Republic Airways, were rolling down intersecting runways at the same time when a controller noticed they were headed for each other.
Both planes were alerted to abort and they stopped rolling when they were about 100 feet (30 metres) apart, the safety board said.
In the second incident, the pilot of a United Airlines Boeing 737 aborted its takeoff after seeing another United plane, an Airbus A320, beginning to roll toward the same runway from an intersecting taxiway. Those planes were about 600 feet (180 metres) apart, the NTSB said.
"We are investigating both of these incidents," said NTSB spokeswoman Lauren Peduzzi. "They (investigators) have requested that all data from both incidents be preserved and investigators will interview controllers."
The safety board is concerned that automated FAA systems for warning controllers when planes come too close together on the ground is not adequate for congested runways at the biggest airports. The board favors technology that would warn pilots directly of an impending collision, rather than controllers first, to save time.
The FAA has completed a number of objectives in recent years to reduce runway near misses, which mainly involve small planes at small airports. Nevertheless, there were 324 incidents in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, two fewer than the previous year, NTSB data showed. Some included jetliners at major airports in Las Vegas and New York.
To improve safety margins, the FAA has recommended to control towers nationwide that they not let planes hold for takeoff at the edge of the runway and instead keep them back on the taxiway until they get permission to go.
The change would give controllers an extra minute to assess aircraft movements but that extra time could lead to delays over the course of a day at a busy airport.
Aviation regulators say airports can opt out of its recommendation if they can prove that safety would not be compromised by keeping current procedures in place.
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