Nine deaths in New York should make it clear that expecting pilots to “see and avoid” each other in congested commercial airspace is an invitation to tragedy. The Aug. 8 collision of a helicopter and a private plane over the Hudson River in New York City is also more evidence that the Federal Aviation Administration isn’t doing its job. National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Debbie Hersman said the evidence suggests that the pilot of the sightseeing helicopter carrying five Italian tourists was gaining altitude and not in a position to see the oncoming single-engine Piper. The helicopter was clipped by the Piper’s right wing, sending both aircraft plunging into the river. Visual flight rules were in effect, requiring both pilots to watch for each other and periodically announce their positions on a common radio frequency. It was not enough.
Former NTSB board member Greg Feith says the FAA is “playing the odds” by allowing low-flying aircraft to get so close to each other. He’s right. Piper pilot Steve Altman, who was killed in the crash with his brother and 16-year-old nephew, was described by fellow pilot Arthur Wolk as an “above average” aviator who flew sick kids to the hospital. But, Wolk added, “You can’t avoid what you don’t see.”
Besides helicopters and small private aircraft operating in the same airspace as large commercial jetliners at airports across the country, the “see and avoid” problem also includes gliders. Their sleek, aerodynamic form makes them almost impossible to see until it’s almost too late to avoid hitting them. Since 1989, collisions between gliders and powered aircraft have claimed nine lives. Dozens more people have experienced terrifying near-misses involving gliders. That FAA officials ignore this deadly hazard can be seen in a 2007 e-mail obtained by The Washington Examiner under the Freedom of Information Act. In the e-mail, FAA manager Jeff Williams asks a colleague: “As a favor to Edie, do you know who … might be working transponder codes for gliders (OK, stop laughing).”
Williams’ attitude illuminates the fact that the FAA has for a decade ignored the NTSB’s recommendation that gliders be required to carry a miniature transceiver as part of an advanced collision-avoidance system developed by the Mitre Corp. An FAA spokesman says the problem is that Mitre hasn’t submitted the transceiver for approval, but why hasn’t the agency asked Mitre to do so? Meanwhile, planes come within 20 seconds of colliding nine times a day at Boston’s Logan International Airport, according to an FAA study. An FAA spokesman couldn’t say if such studies were done in New York. The public expects FAA officials to work diligently to improve aviation safety, not sit in their cushy offices and roll the dice with other peoples’ lives.
