![]() They had no direct radio link with aircraft. ![]() The en route controllers kept track of the position of planes moving along the airways with the help of maps and blackboards. The photo above shows operations at this Newark, N.J., facility during the following year. In December 1935, an airline consortium opened the first Airway Traffic Control Station for keeping aircraft safely separated as they moved between airports. Controller Bill Darby is shown with the latest equipment in this 1936 view of Newark tower. In the next five years, about twenty cities followed Cleveland's lead. In 1930, Cleveland Municipal Airport established a radio-equipped airport control tower. The profession that League pioneered soon gained a measure of sophistication. He eventually became FAA's Air Traffic Service director and retired as an Assistant Administrator in 1973. League joined the Federal service in 1937. His other equipment included a folding chair, drinking water, and a pad for taking notes. Note the rolled-up flags in the wheelbarrow, and the dangling lunch box. His communication tools were simple: a red flag for "hold" and a checkered one for "go."Ībove, League is shown on duty in his summer office. Louis, where the airport operator employed him to prevent collisions between aircraft. The 1929 photo shows him dressed for cold weather at St. League, usually regarded as the first air traffic controller. Recreational Flyers & Modeler Community-Based OrganizationsĪt right is Archie W.Critical Infrastructure & Public Venues.Certificated Remote Pilots including Commercial Operators.Legislation & Policies, Regulations & Guidance.Data & Research Subnav: Data & Research 1.Airport Safety Information Video Series.Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) Program.Airport Coronavirus Response Grant Program.General Aviation & Recreational Aircraft.Vintage & Experimental Aircraft Program.Aviation Safety Draft Documents Open for Comment."We have to have the highest safety standards, and we have to have the investment in modern equipment that is going to give us those safety standards," Cantwell said. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy on Thursday called the FAA decision "a win for safety."Ĭantwell said the United States should also require all airports with passenger airline services to have ground improvement safety systems to prevent runway incursions. The FAA said late on Thursday that it would write rules to require cockpit voice recorders to capture 25 hours of information and establish a committee to explore how to make greater use of data gathered by airplanes, including expanded flight data monitoring.Īfter one of the recent runway incidents, the NTSB said the cockpit voice recordings in both planes were overwritten and not recovered because under current rules, the devices record only two hours. Senate Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell separately on Wednesday called on the FAA to take action on previous National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommendations. Santa said a permanent fix was needed, along with a new staffing model, while Duckworth said the FAA and NATCA should do a "thorough study" and agree on the staffing levels required. "It's time for us to accurately and adequately staff the facilities," he added. "We have a staffing issue," NATCA President Rich Santa said at a FAA safety forum on Wednesday, noting there are 1,200 fewer certified air traffic controllers than a decade ago. Airlines and others have also called for more funding for air traffic controllers and have pointed to times when a lack of staff impacted flights. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), the union representing controllers, has pressed the FAA to boost staffing. The Transportation Department said last week it was seeking $117 million to hire 1,800 air traffic controllers next year, in addition to 1,500 being hired this year. The FAA has been deciding how many air traffic controllers to employ by its budget "versus the actual need in terms of the traffic demands," Duckworth said. We don't have enough maintenance people, and we don't have enough air traffic controllers," Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, who chairs the Senate Commerce aviation subcommittee, told Reuters.Ī series of aviation close calls has sparked alarm and raised questions about the safety of the U.S. Senate panel overseeing aviation issues said on Thursday, amid investigations into a series of recent runway incidents. WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) needs more air traffic controllers to address rising passenger demand, the chair of a U.S.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |