Page 171 - Controller News Today

That it was an air traffic controller new in this position that directed one of the planes to take a wrong turn. this evening, the faa is trying to figure out why it happened. an air traffic controller in training directs a united jetliner to turn putting it on a possible collision with another jet taking off from the airport. seconds later, according to the faa, the controller realizes his mistake. >> stop your turn. stop your climb and stop your turn united 601. >> reporter: the two flights le...

This kind of stuff happen, because were hearing more and more about these close calls. >> the numbers on this would belie that. there were 132 million flight operations last year. 41 incidents that made it into the record books as a close call. >> thats 41 too many. >> that is 41 too many. the system worked, but in this case, the pilot, the controller told the plane to turn in the wrong direction. >> so it was a human error by the air traffic controller. >> it was a human error. thats what it ap...

Through a pilot making a mistake. but remember, there is avionics on board, particularly one called collision avoidance assistance. >> reporter: the faa says it has taken steps to prevent any similar occurrences in the future but they didnt say what those steps were. these air traffic controllers are trained in real-time. we do know an instructor was there at the moment this incident happened ready to step in, if needed. but the trainee realized the mistake immediately and corrected the problem ...

Theyre unacceptable. theyre worked on. but there is a backup system and people are safe. >> reporter: this is what can happen when planes get too close. in 1991, this usair 737 at l.a.x. landed on top of a skywest commuter plane preparing for takeoff. 34 people died. accidents like this are incredibly rare because of collision avoidance systems now mandated in planes. >> these mistakes can occur through a controller making an error, through a pilot making a mistake. but remember, there is avioni...

Close in the skies and this morning we know the faa is now investigating. >> 601, a right turn. two more passenger planes get too close in the skies. on may 9th, united flight 601 and united 437 took off from bush intercontinental airport in houston at roughly the same time. shortly after takeoff, flight 601 is told to turn right putting it in the path of the other plane. moments later, the controller seems to realize the mistake. >> 601, stop the turn right there, sir. stop your turn. stop your...

>> 601, turn right, right turn. >> reporter: two more passenger planes get too close in the skies. on may 9th, united flight 601 and united flight 437 took off from bush enter continental airport in houston at roughly the same time. shortly after takeoff flight 601 is told to turn right, putting it in the path of the other plane. moments later the controller seems to realize the mistake. >> 601, stop your heading, stop your turn right there. united 601, stop your turn, stop your climb and stop y...

Toward the tower itself. they said an air traffic controller ininstructed the pilot of 601 to make a right turn after departing from runway nine. the controller then noticed that aircraft was heading into the space normally reservers toed runway 15 left. that prompted the urgent conversation with flight 601 to stop the turn into the others air space. >> scary stuff. mike, thank very much. fliers are wondering what is going on because on average they shell out 300 buck0sen a one-attribute, and mo...

Meanwhile, say they dont have the answers themselves and that they are being as transparent as possible because malaysia has nothing to hide. john and michaela? >> a lot of the families would doubt that. you know, they wonder if they have something to hide. its certainly a tough question, but what if all of those resources that are being used are being used for a wild goose chase? a deep sea explorer, fabian couste cousteau, raised that question earlier. >> an ocean search specialist joins us....

The airfield. straight runways with a few aids to help the aircraft come down. anyone trying to walk across the airfield should be an easy target. that would really kind of be the second layer of defense. in may experience you have the caravan which have a controller in it and the purpose of that person is as the aircraft lines up on the threshold to get airborne, thats the final check. >> so then youre talking about the eyeballs. all of the people who could walk around the plane do, walk around...

Which is a very important piece of the puzzle. why havent we heard, you know, in the west and im sure in malaysia there are recorded conversations on the land lines between the controllers to indicate what conversations occurred during this handoff from one controller to another. you know, we have a 40-minute gap before the malaysian controllers even notified the military there there was some sort of missing aircraft. 40 minutes. even with the handoff included in all this, where there would be s...