Update on Near Miss at McCarran
Sep 29th, 2005 by Mark
ATC is on leave, after boo-boo.
A Las Vegas air traffic controller was on paid leave this week after mistakenly allowing one airliner to take off from a McCarran International Airport runway as another jet taxied across the same runway.
So it seems that the ATC was a veteran of McCarran. just arrived on duty. No doubt hoped up on caffeine and cigarettes. Oh surely you saw “Pushing Tin”, it was a “tour de force” in the Cinematic Arts.
The FAA-employed controller, who Don Walker did not name but described as a veteran controller who has worked more than 10 years at McCarran, had cleared Flight 539 to take off on Runway 25R while instructing another America West jet, Flight 778, to taxi to the same runway and hold for further instructions.
They had plenty of people, they say. My math say 2.5 for each active runway.
Don Walker said it did not appear the latest incident was due to overburdened controllers. The tower had its full compliment of five controllers on duty at the time, and the controller in question had been working for less than one hour.
So maybe it was just a mistake. Then why did they say he would get “re-training”? I find that to be odd.
The controller was removed from duty immediately after the incident, and has been “decertified” as a controller, Don Walker said. The controller could be eligible for recertification if he undergoes additional training or takes similar remedial actions.
But wait! There is more. The Union is making big noises about safety.
The incident came as the nation’s leading flight controllers’ union has launched an ad blitz to highlight what it claims is a crisis in air traffic control staffing, resulting in a greater likelihood of dangerous incursions.
In recent months, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association has alleged that federal authorities have made drastic staff cutbacks while failing to adequately modernize and improve air traffic control infrastructure in recent years.
Maybe this was a planned occurrence? I don’t put anything past a Union, but surely an ATC would not be that stupid? Like I said yesterday, this is not a tough airport to ATC at. Maybe just a goof, let’s hope so.
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