USA: civil aviation regulator under pressure after several incidents

Two planes close to colliding in Austin (Texas) and New York, a nose-diving device shortly after takeoff from Hawaii: several recent incidents raise questions about safety in American skies and the responsibilities of the regulator.

The subject came up Wednesday during the parliamentary hearing of Billy Nolen, the acting president of the agency which regulates American civil aviation (FAA).

Republican Senator Ted Cruz aired a re-enactment of the Feb. 4 episode at Austin airport, in which a FedEx cargo plane was landing and a Southwest airline commercial plane was ready to depart. take off nearly collided.

“If you were on the Southwest flight and you knew another plane had nearly landed on you and killed everyone on board, you would be rightly horrified,” said the elected Texan.

“We will stick to the facts,” replied Mr. Nolen, specifying that an investigation had been opened.

On January 13, at JFK airport in New York, an American Airlines flight cut the runway without authorization from the air traffic controller, coming within 500 meters of a Delta airline aircraft, according to a preliminary report of the agency in charge of transport security (NTSB).

The NTSB is also investigating the brutal loss of altitude, on December 18, of flight UA 1722 heading straight for the Pacific Ocean just after leaving the island of Maui (Hawaii). The pilot ended up righting the aircraft.

– “No obvious link” –

These incidents did not cause any casualties, but put pressure on the FAA, already criticized after the temporary suspension last month of all internal flights taking off from the United States, a first since the attacks of September 11, 2001.

This interruption was caused by a computer failure of the risk alert system on the ground or in the sky, the Notice To Air Missions (NOTAM) system.

During his visit to the Senate, Mr. Nolen wanted to be reassuring, recalling that there had been no fatal air accident in the United States since 2009.

He also said the FAA was working on changes to the NOTAM system to prevent further failures, but would have to wait until 2025 for a full update.

The agency must also organize an “air safety summit” in March in order to “examine what additional actions aviation must take to maintain our safety standards”, according to an internal memo consulted by AFP.

For Mike Stengel of the consulting company AeroDynamic Advisory, there is “no obvious link” between the various incidents, but they must encourage in-depth reflection by the FAA and other players in the sector, including companies.

Jim Hall, the former head of the NTSB, is more alarmist, referring to “an erosion of aviation safety” already evident in two fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia of the Boeing 737 MAX, a model which had been certified by the FAA.

Hall said the agency faces daunting challenges, including overseeing airlines seeking to renew their workforces after many departures and layoffs during the pandemic.

Labor shortages could slow the strong recovery in air traffic, which is expected to return to its pre-pandemic level in 2023, according to forecasts by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

“It’s time for Congress and FAA leaders to take a hard look at whether the FAA is structured, funded, and staffed to prepare for the future of aviation,” Hall said.

– “Too bureaucratic” –

For Michel Merluzeau, of the AIR firm, the evolution of on-board and ground technologies, as well as the strengthening of air safety standards over the past decades have “paid off”.

But the aeronautical expert notes “increasingly high controller workloads, especially in airports that are experiencing strong growth due to increased demographic expansion, such as Austin, Sacramento, Phoenix or Seattle”.

Mr. Merluzeau also mentions communication difficulties between American controllers and foreign crews in major international airports, such as New York or Chicago.

The slowness with which the FAA and the aeronautical industry adapt to these developments does not encourage optimism.

“All this is far too cumbersome, politicized and bureaucratic”, regrets the expert.