Air Traffic Controllers Dealt With Three Close Calls Sunday

Air safety officials said Tuesday that there were three close calls involving Orange County air traffic controllers who alerted pilots in time to avoid mid-air collisions on Sunday.

The latest confirmed incident, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, involved an American Airlines MD-80 plane descending to John Wayne Airport about 10 miles north of the runway.

An unnamed air traffic controller based at the Coast Terminal Radar Approach Control facility in El Toro alerted the jetliner pilot in time for the plane to take evasive action. The pilot of the Cessna filed a near-miss report with the Federal Aviation Administration, but officials declined to identify him.

The incident occurred about 2 hours after an Air New Zealand Boeing 747 approaching Los Angeles International Airport had to swerve sharply to avoid a small plane, injuring two of those aboard. That incident is still under investigation, said Gary Mucho, regional manager of the NTSB.

The American Airlines MD-80 jet, flying from the Dallas-Ft. Worth area with an unknown number of passengers, was at an altitude of about 4,500 feet 12 miles north of El Toro when air traffic controllers alerted the jet’s crew that a single-engine Cessna 172 was detected in front of and below the jet, Mucho said.

Both aircraft were heading basically in the same westerly direction, toward John Wayne Airport, he said.

In another incident, a Coast TRACON controller warned the pilot of an America West plane in time for it to avoid a collision with another Cessna near John Wayne Airport. However, air safety officials said the incident is not officially classified as a near-miss because neither pilot reported it to the FAA.

The Coast TRACON facility was recently criticized as a “pig pen” by one NTSB official at a hearing in Washington 2 weeks ago. The NTSB has recommended upgrading the facility with more staff and new equipment, but the FAA has yet to respond to the recommendations.