Aviation safety has made great strides in the past decade. But each day pilots, air traffic controllers, ramp workers and other airline workers continue to commit dozens of errors, from controllers losing track of planes to pilots taking off with inadequate fuel.
Economic hardship caused by the
Intense competition, incessant weather delays and tight security have applied even more pressure.
“”We’ve maintained a fairly impressive safety record,”” said
Still, some in the aviation world are uneasy about the immediate future.
“”We’d be naive if we weren’t watching closely and being concerned,”” Voss said.
The airlines’ safety record has been excellent in the past five years, with about 0.02 fatal accidents per 100,000 departures, according to the NTSB.
Still, the industry continues to be plagued by glitches. Since 2005, more than 17,000 have been detailed in the Aviation Safety Reporting System, a joint venture between the
The problems often involve pilots straying from their assigned altitude, controllers failing to keep two planes far enough apart or ramp workers allowing planes on the ground to bump into each other.
But they also include pilots confessing they dozed off at the controls and controllers losing their radar scopes because of a power failure.
Most errors end without harm but still pose danger.
In June, controllers ordered the pilots of a 737 to make a rapid descent from 24,000 feet, while the plane was 50 miles from
“”The last thing I wanted was to be high and fast to a short runway with no instrument landing system at night with a new guy flying,”” the captain wrote. “”This was unsafe controlling as far as I’m concerned.””
The plane landed safely.
In another instance, in
Aviation safety officials consider glitches to be precursors of potential accidents. They encourage pilots, controllers and others to report the problems and avoid punitive action.
“”We want to find things that have gone wrong and prevent them from happening again,”” said
In the past year, the airlines have had a series of serious accidents and incidents.
As recently as
In December, an American 737 that had departed
Then there was the crash of a Continental Connection turboprop in
The accident spurred the
Taking into account the time pilots spend preparing for a flight, they might have to land a plane in bad weather and at night after being on the job 16 hours, said
“”That’s when we’re making our most critical decisions: on landing,”” said Prater, whose association represents 53,000 pilots working for 38 carriers in
The
Members of
“”If you don’t fly it, get it home to base, they’ll find a way to fire you,”” said Mussman, who today runs an aircraft service company.
Prater foresees a pilot shortage within the next three years.
The stress is causing many experienced pilots to call it quits before retirement, he said.
And fewer young people, including those in the military, are looking to the airlines for a career because of low pay and a lack of job security, he said.
“”Being a pilot can be a good job, but an absolutely horrible career,”” Prater said.
In 2004, air traffic controllers also predicted a severe staffing shortage. They said they were overwhelmed, and half of their 15,000 members were becoming eligible for retirement or early retirement. Because of the mental stamina and quick reactions required on the job, controllers must retire by age 56.
But after being awarded a new contract last year, many of those who had some years left before mandatory retirement decided to remain on the job, “”stabilizing the work force,”” said
Controllers must work under grueling pressure, and as a result, they make mistakes. For instance, they might not coordinate with other controllers when guiding planes through radar sectors, or they might fail to provide clear instructions to pilots.
One of the most common errors is allowing planes approaching a runway to get closer than the required three miles apart, said
In about 10 years, a new satellite-based system called NextGen will allow planes to fly closer together without jeopardizing safety, Wright said.
Sometimes, controllers lose track of planes on the ground.
In
The jet crashed, killing 49 people on board. Only the co-pilot,
Although the NTSB faulted the pilots, it said the controller played a role.
Church said serious controller errors have been sharply reduced in the past year. To some extent, that was because air traffic was down more than 7 percent from 2008 to 2009. In large part, it was because controllers now anonymously report even the smallest errors to the
That, in turn, has allowed the
“”That’s a good thing,”” he said. “”Things are far from perfect, but we feel they’re headed in the right direction.””