Review Ordered After Air Force 1 Handling Errors
Transportation Secretary James H. Burnley IV, calling the recent handling of Air Force One by air traffic controllers “unacceptable,” has ordered an immediate review of air traffic procedures along the Northeast air corridor, it was learned Friday.
Burnley directed the review in a letter to FAA Administrator T. Allan McArtor after a federal investigation revealed earlier this week that a string of controller errors involving four FAA facilities caused Air Force One and a commuter plane to fly unusually close to one another over New Jersey.
The two aircraft came within 500 feet vertically and 1.5 miles horizontally as they both began their descents into Newark International Airport on Oct. 12.
‘Erosion of Safety’
The National Transportation Safety Board said that, although the two planes were never in danger of colliding, the incident revealed problems that could lead to “an erosion of safety” in the high-density Northeast air traffic system.
Burnley, in the letter to McArtor, said the safety board investigation “describes a series of managerial, operational and training deficiencies that, I am sure you agree, are unacceptable.”
A copy of the letter, dated Nov. 17, was obtained Friday by the Associated Press.
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