Sober Truth About Y2K and Air Safety

“Special Report: Y2K Survival Guide” [June 21] posed the question, “Is It Safe to Fly?” The real answer, regardless of the Federal Aviation Administration’s unending political spin, is that no one, including the FAA, knows.

I am a captain for a major airline and have been involved in air traffic control issues for 20 years. Contrary to the FAA, there is no way it can guarantee the safety of the air traffic control system past Jan. 1, 2000.

While the FAA’s theory that the Y2K computer problem alone represents little risk to our nation’s air traffic control system is correct, the reality is something quite different. The basic problem is not Y2K but the fragile nature of the present ATC software and system design. Y2K certainly cannot improve the ATC system. Unfortunately, Y2K will make it worse.

Second, when the ATC system experiences Y2K disruption, the FAA’s contingency plans amount to parking aircraft.

The 30-year-old design and single-thread structure of the ATC system make it impossible for the FAA to fully validate the data presented to the controller. The potential of an undetected error moving through the system is significantly higher than the FAA allows airlines in their critical aircraft navigation systems. Finally, in the last 20 years, the FAA has never met an ATC-related deadline. To trust it to do so now, especially with a deadline that is unmovable, is not only unsafe, it is just plain dumb.

R. MICHAEL BAIADA

Evergreen, Colo.