Watchdogs question FAA error data
Source: Washington Post
Two key government watchdogs raised doubts Wednesday about the accuracy of the Federal Aviation Administration’s record-keeping on potentially disastrous close calls between planes on the runway and in flight.
One of them, Jeffrey B. Guizetti, assistant inspector general for aviation, told a House committee that he expected that an additional 300 to 600 incidents daily in which planes get too close would be revealed once new automatic tracking software is phased in.
“The chances of a collision on the ground or in the air is low, but if it does occur, there will be a catastrophic loss of life,” Guizetti told the subcommittee on aviation. “So that is why there is a lot of concern about tracking these near misses.”
The committee was also told that the biggest current danger to passengers may be on the ground rather than in the air, when mistakes are made at crowded airports or planes overshoot the runway.
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/watchdogs-question-faa-error-data/2012/04/25/gIQATC4nhT_story.html?wprss=rss_politics
