Questions are arising over the experience levels of air traffic controllers on duty at Lehigh Valley International airport in Pennsylvania on 19 September when a Bombardier CRJ700 came within 3m (10ft) of a runway collision with a Cessna 172.
The incident occurred on Runway 6 at the Allentown airport. A Chicago-bound CRJ700 flown by Mesa Airlines under the United Express banner reached 120kt (222km/h) when the crew saw the Cessna on the runway ahead and swerved to avoid the smaller aircraft.
An initial report by the US National Transportation Safety Board notes that the Cessna had landed earlier but missed its runway exit.
The same air traffic controller that asked the Cessna to turn off the taxiway cleared for the CRJ take-off.
During a Congressional hearing on runway safety last week National Air Traffic Controllers Association president Patrick Forrey told members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that the two controllers on duty were trainees. He says eight controllers were present at the airport. Of those three were on a break and two were in the radar room.
One was a developmental controller who assumed the post in August, says Hank Krakowski, chief operating officer of the US Federal Aviation Administration's Air Traffic Organisation.
But the controller-in-charge, although technically developmental in that role, had five years previous experience at Grand Forks airport in North Dakota and 10 months on the job at the Lehigh airport, Krakowski adds.
Source: Flight International
