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Air traffic controllers demand changes after near-misses

Story By: Bea Karnes
Source: NBC

There was a close call Sunday at New York's JFK Airport.

Pilots of two jets were set for perpendicular landings, until they and the tower saw the chance of collision.

The pilots pulled up, avoiding a near miss like ones in San Francisco, just last week in Newark, and in Baltimore.

"If nothing is done, something serious is going to happen," says Barrett Byrnes of the Air Traffic Controllers Association.

The Air Traffic Controllers' Union is now asking for an emergency meeting with the head of the Federal Aviation Administration.

They say the problem is too many flights and too few controllers. Left, in some cases, to work ten-hour days and six-day weeks.

At JFK, controllers are down 40%, while air traffic allowed by the FAA is up 40%.

“If they would spend the dollars in the new technology and put the full compliment of required people in the air traffic control towers we could solve this problem,” says Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer of New York.

Passengers disagree about whether cutting flights is the answer.

"I think it’s a good idea if they put a cap on things. I think there’s a little bit too much air traffic," says passenger Karen Flood.

"If anything keep it the same. I don't want prices to go any higher," says passenger Tim Moore.

The National Transportation Safety Board says it's disappointed the FAA isn't moving faster to deploy radars, and collision warning systems, to alert pilots they're in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The NTSB, the Controllers' Union, and lawmakers all call for quick action, but it's not clear the FAA sees a problem.

A spokesman called the incident at JFK “a nonevent”; controllers say the jets almost collided.