Officials: Planes narrowly averted mid-air crash near Pittsburgh

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Two airplanes carrying more than 100 passengers narrowly averted a mid-air collision east of Pittsburgh after an Ohio air traffic control trainee told a Delta Air Lines pilot to turn into the path of an oncoming plane, officials said.

The Delta pilot made a nosedive and missed the plane by about 400 feet, the Federal Aviation Administration said yesterday. The other pilot also took evasive action, the FAA said.

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The controller only had about a year on the job, said Melissa Ott, National Air Traffic Controllers spokeswoman at the Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center in Oberlin.

"We watched the recording of the incident three times and each time I said, 'Oh my God,'" Ott said. "It was the closest call I have ever seen in my 18 years of air traffic control."

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"A year ago that area would have been worked by 12 to 14 controllers," Ott said. "Now it's handled by nine or 10. New controllers are controlling airplanes much sooner than before. They used to train two or three years before doing it."

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08066/862944-147.stm

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Good thing planes have TCAT, but wonder if it's only a matter of time till this downsizing and quick training will cause a tragedy.

[Gore1FL]

1. What is so stupid

Reagan and Drew "I can;t back my vehical out of my driveway without rolling it because I am such a drunk" Lewis fired the ATCs 27 years ago and hired new ones. Suddenly ist is occurng to people that there might be a wave of retirements about now... The had almost three decades to make plans and get people trained....