Report: Air Controllers Cover Up Errors

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-dfw-air-traffic,1,5197345.story?track=rss&ctrack=1&cset=true

Report: Air Controllers Cover Up Errors

By DAVID KOENIG
Associated Press Writer
Published July 12, 2007, 6:39 PM CDT

DALLAS -- A government investigator has accused the Federal Aviation Administration of covering up mistakes by air traffic controllers at one of the nation's busiest airports and sometimes shifting the blame to pilots.

The problems at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport included planes that flew too close together and a controller who did not notify a colleague when a plane was cleared for takeoff.

The allegations came from the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, an independent investigative agency responsible for protecting government whistle-blowers. The office's report renewed accusations that were made in 2005 but, according to the investigator, never fixed.

"The message needs to get out that we have a cavalier attitude about safety," special counsel Scott Bloch said Thursday in an interview, citing a "culture of laxness" at both the FAA and the air traffic controllers' union.

The FAA insisted that all controller errors are reported correctly and said inspectors had recently visited the airport.

Bloch warned that if safety violations were persistently ignored, "eventually you're going to have an air crash."

"Heads need to roll here," he said.

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This shouldn't be surprising; it's human nature. What is frustrating that there doesn't seem to be mechanisms in place to catch such self serving deceptions.

Bryant
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