Aviation safety

On Aug. 27, 2006, a Comair commuter jet used the wrong runway for takeoff from Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Ky. That crash resulted in the death of 49 of the 50 people on board.

The National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) report on the investigation concluded that pilot error caused the crash and recommended several measures to prevent similar incidents in the future. What has been done so far?

Comair changed their pre-takeoff procedures. Lexington airport put up new runway signs and markings. The NTSB recommended mandatory runway checks and cockpit warnings systems. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) hired four additional traffic controllers in Lexington and ordered specific procedures to be followed for checking runway locations.

Still, the debate continues to rage about whether enough has been done to prevent a repeat of the tragedy. The questions remain on what should happen next.

The FAA earlier this month told reporters that there is an extremely safe system in place today. Runway safety has been on the agency’s priority list since 1999 and, the FAA claimed, tremendous gains have been accomplished.

The former NTSB chairman has been quoted to have said that all of the steps that have been taken thus far have resulted in an aviation system that is only “very narrowly safer.”

A retired airline pilot and aviation analyst was firmly convinced that FAA will largely ignore the NTSB recommendations, although there will be token actions done to project an image of doing something.

Things are not safer. This is the opinion of the executive director of the National Air Disaster Alliance/Foundation. The non-profit group represents crash survivors and industry workers among others. The group insists that understaffing plagues the nation’s air traffic control towers. The problem has become even more acute, because air traffic is growing and yet the FAA is not able to catch up.

The FAA says there are enough controllers. But the controller’s union national president says controller staffing is in a crisis. Their work force includes 3,000 trainees, who need three years training before they qualify in the more complex facilities. Labor relations have been tense between FAA and the controller’s union since last year.

A number of experts in aviation safety doubt whether FAA will act on the NTSB recommendations, citing past instances of FAA inaction.

The NTSB Chairman testified to a House panel in June that in the last two years, little has been done in the FAA to improve airport safety.

The NTSB released its investigation report on Comair Flight 5191 in July. The FAA has so far withheld comment on the recommendations, and has 60 days to formulate a response.

The public may have to wait for a much longer time before anything significant happens.