Air-traffic errors that allowed planes to get too close together jumped 81 percent from 2007 to 2010, according to a recent investigation by USA Today.
There were more than 1,800 errors by air-traffic controllers, including 43 most likely to cause a midair collision between planes, it found.
The Federal Aviation Administration said that’s mostly the result of better reporting, though ti also reflects the need for greater safety steps.
According to data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by the newspaper:
- Air traffic errors reported to the FAA rose from 1,040 to 1,887.
- Those most likely to cause a collision or an accident were also up from 34 to 43, a 26 percent increase.
The FAA said that the higher number of reported errors involving airliners, private planes and military aircraft don’t pose a sudden increase in the risk to fliers. “Instead, the agency insists the numbers are the result of several years of effort to improve reporting,” the report says.
“For years the FAA has been dogged by reports that errors were sometimes covered up. Three years ago, for example, an FAA investigation prompted by whistle-blowers found that reports were routinely falsified at a Dallas facility.”
The data doesn’t include an airport-by-airport breakdown, but we at The Watchdog are requesting that information from the FAA. We’ve started looking at incidents involving John Wayne Airport, which you can see here and here.
Read the full USA Today story here.
