Word: midair
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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After a remarkably safe year for aviation in 1986, the new year has begun with a wave of midair incidents. Three occurred last week, following a collision over Utah the week before. A total of 17 people have died...
...collision was a postscript to a year in which 828 near-midairs were reported to the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency's boss, Donald Engen, noted that the FAA will soon introduce new air-collision warning devices for airliners and more sophisticated computers for the air-traffic control system, but he suggested that the "solution to the midair collision threat will still be the pilot." There is no substitute, Engen said, "for a vigilant airman...
...candid memo to United Airlines pilots last month, Captain Lloyd W. Barry, United's senior vice president for flight operations, warned, "I am increasingly concerned about the ever present threat of a midair collision. Within the last twelve months, United crews have averaged 6.3 near-misses per month. Any of these incidents could have resulted in a catastrophe had it not been for the professional skill of our pilots or, in some cases, just plain good luck...
...most severe critics of the air safety system are the airline pilots, who, it has often been noted, are the first to arrive at the scene of an air accident. A survey of ALPA's members in September showed not only that midair collisions are the pilots' biggest concern but that 66% of them feel that the problems of air-traffic control are more serious than the public realizes. In the opinion of 43% of pilots, deregulation has had an adverse effect on airline safety. Declares Pilot David Linsley, a 20-year veteran at United: "The system...
...Aeromexico DC-9 and the Piper Cherokee Archer that collided in midair over Cerritos, Calif., last August should have been visible to each other for at least a minute before the crash, experts believe. One if not both of the pilots probably saw the other plane coming. That chilling fact confirms what experienced flyers already know: simply spotting an oncoming plane is not enough to avoid it. The pilot must then gauge whether the other craft's speed and bearing pose a threat. In crowded airspace, the risk of error is high...