NTSB Investigates Near Midair Collision Near NY [Arquivo]

gmoreira

07-02-11, 17:28

ABC.com
Federal safety officials say they are investigating a near midair collision between an airliner and two military planes south of New York City last month.

The National Transportation Safety Board said in a statement Friday that on Jan. 20 there was a near collision between an American Airlines Boeing 777-200 and two U.S. Air Force C-17s about 80 miles southeast of New York City.

The board said the airliner had taken off from John F. Kennedy International Airport and was en route to San Paulo, Brazil. It said the two Air Force planes were en route to McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey.

avherald.com
An American Airlines Boeing 777-200, registration N766AN performing flight AA-951 from New York JFK,NY (USA) to Sao Paulo Guarulhos,SP (Brazil) with 247 passengers and 12 crew, was climbing out of New York around FL220 about 80nm southeast of the airport on a southeasterly heading when the crew complied with a TCAS resolution advisory. After being clear of conflict the crew continued for a safe landing at Sao Paulo about 8 hours later.

The NTSB reported, that due to an ATC operating irregularity separation was lost between the American Airlines flight and two US Air Force C-17s tracking on a northwesterly heading bound for McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey, the aircraft came within a mile at their closest point (no vertical separation or altitude data provided).

The NTSB explained that the air traffic controllers (plural) talking to the aircraft received conflict alerts and immediately turned their aircraft in order to resolve the conflict, AA-951 responded to a TCAS resolution advisory as well.

American Airlines said, that the separation reduced to less than 500 feet vertical and less than a nautical mile laterally when AA-951 was at about FL220.

Air Traffic Control sources reported the separation reduced to 200 feet vertical and 2000 feet (0.33nm) laterally.

The NTSB have initiated an investigation.

Pedro_Loureiro

08-02-11, 15:45

FONTE - Flight Safety Information

Jet From J.F.K. Came Close to 2 Air Force Cargo Planes

By MATTHEW L. WALD

WASHINGTON (NYT) - An American Airlines jumbo jet that took off from Kennedy International Airport on the evening of Jan. 20 heading southeast toward Brazil came within a mile of a formation of two Air Force C-17 cargo planes, the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday. The board has begun a major investigation.

The airliner, a Boeing 777, was under the control of one Federal Aviation Administration air-traffic controller, and the two military planes were under the jurisdiction of another, but the three planes were near a boundary that divided the two controllers' airspace, according to the aviation agency, which is also investigating.

Controllers told the pilots to take evasive action, and a cockpit warning system on the American plane also provided instructions, the safety board said. No one was injured.

The board offered only basic information; it said the planes came within a mile of each other, but did not specify their difference in altitude. It said radar data located the encounter about 80 miles southeast of New York City, which would apparently put it over the Atlantic Ocean, although neither the safety board nor the aviation agency would say so on Friday.
The military planes were flying northeast toward McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey.

In a statement, the F.A.A. said that as a result of its preliminary investigation, all air-traffic operational personnel guiding high-altitude traffic in the New York region were "already reviewing a variety of procedures including the handling of formation flights, aircraft near sector boundaries."

Because the safety board has begun a formal investigation, some of the entities involved have been invited to join the process and are sworn to secrecy until the investigation is completed.
Both the safety board and the aviation agency have received an increased number of reports of near-collisions, but for reasons unrelated to the actual numbers of such incidents.

The safety board changed its rules in March, requiring airlines to report certain categories of in-cockpit warnings. Since then, it has begun investigations of near-midair collisions over Minneapolis, involving a US Airways jetliner and a small cargo plane; over San Francisco involving a United Airlines 777 and a single-engine propeller plane; over Houston involving a Southwest Airlines jet and a news helicopter; and near Anchorage involving a US Airways plane and a Boeing 747 cargo plane, among others.

The aviation agency, independently, started a program under which controllers can report air-traffic errors without implicating themselves, so the data can be used to improve system safety. That program mirrors one that has been in place for years for pilots. As a result, both organizations say, recent numbers cannot be compared with previous ones.NTSB investigates a near mid-air collision over New York

NTSB is investigating a near-miss between a commercial flight and two military planes
The aircraft were within a mile of each other at the closest point, NTSB says
The incident is being investigated as "operational error," according to NTSB
New York (CNN) -- A near mid-air collision last month between a commercial airliner and two military planes just outside New York City is under investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday.
According to the NTSB, an American Airlines Boeing 777 left John F. Kennedy airport heading for Sao Paulo, Brazil, on January 20 when it encountered two U.S. Air Force C-17s, which were headed toward McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey.

Radar data indicates the aircraft came within a mile of each other at their closest point, a statement from the NTSB said.
The near collision sent an electronic notification to the NTSB, the air traffic controllers, and the American Airlines crew, allowing them to avoid any contact between the aircraft.

"Every airline has to make sure such incidents don't happen," said Ed Martelle, a spokesman for American Airlines, who said he was unaware of the incident until he was contacted by CNN.

The incident is being investigated as "operational error," according to the NTSB.
Martelle declined to comment further on the incident due to the ongoing investigation by the NTSB.New York air-traffic controllers are risking crashes by chatting

NEW YORK, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- New York air-traffic controllers are risking crashes by chatting, texting and watching movies on duty, a supervisor charges.
Some controllers are working only 3 hours of their 8-hour shifts, leaving a single person to do the work of two or three, states complaints filed with the Federal Aviation Administration and the whistle-blowing Office of Special Counsel by Evan Seeley, a manager at the New York Air Route Traffic Control Center in Ronkonkoma, the New York Post reports.
Seeley made his report Jan. 17, three days before a near collision between an American Airlines jet and two military cargo planes over the Atlantic that was not revealed until Friday, after the Post inquired about it.
Sources close to the investigation blame the "Category A" error, the most serious kind, on careless communication between controllers giving instructions to the American fight.
Seeley says controllers work with little oversight at the Long Island center, which coordinates high-altitude flights through the Northeast, including from Kennedy, La Guardia and Newark airports.
Seeley says he was demoted in January in retaliation for trying to put the house in order.
Three traffic-control staffers told the Post Seeley's allegations were just "the tip of the iceberg."