Reuters: Regulatory News: UPDATE 1-US officials probe plane close call at Washington airport

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UPDATE 1-US officials probe plane close call at Washington airport Aug 2nd 2012, 17:59 Thu Aug 2, 2012 1:59pm EDT * FAA calls incident at Washington airport a "miscommunication" * 3 US Airways planes caught in traffic "switchover" on Tuesday * Pilot, controller conversation shows confusion * NTSB to investigate; FAA to hold briefing later Thursday WASHINGTON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - U.S. officials said on Thursday they are investigating "miscommunication" this week that led three US Airways planes -- two outbound and one inbound -- to veer unacceptably close to each other over Washington's Reagan National Airport. In a statement about the incident, the Federal Aviation Administration said bad weather south of the nation's capital on Tuesday forced controllers to divert planes to a different runway. "During the switchover of operations, miscommunication ... led to a loss of the required separation between two regional jets departing from Runway 1 and a regional jet inbound for Runway 19," the FAA said in a statement. The agency plans to hold a press briefing on the incident later on Thursday. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), wh ich ha s made reducing air traffic controller errors and improving runway safety a top priority, said it w ill investigate. Tuesday's incident, first reported by The Washington Post, took place just after 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT), according to the FAA. US Airways said the three flights all arrived at t heir final destinations saf ely but gave no other details. The close call is the latest in a series of serious and embarrassing incidents recently that highlight concerns over air traffic safety. "This error ... is the worst kind of air traffic control error that you can have, directing one plane into the path of another or in this case two airplanes," David Stempler, an aviation expert and head of the advocacy group Air Travelers Association. "This must be investigated thoroughly and the air traffic controllers severely disciplined or terminated." A transcript of the conversation between the pilots and the air traffic controllers at the airport in Tuesday's mishap shows confusion on both sides. "Uh, we were cleared at the river back there. What happened?" the pilot of one incoming flight said, according to t he transcript of the FAA recording CBS News obtained fr om LiveATC.net, a website devoted to live air traffic feeds. "We're, we're trying to figure this out too. Standby," one controller responded. Onboard the aircrafts were 192 passengers and crew members, a ccording to the n ewspaper. "The FAA is investigating the incident and will take appropriate action to address the miscommunication," the FAA said. 12 SECONDS FROM CRASH The Washington Post in its report on Thursday said the commuter jets "came within seconds of a midair collision," citing a federal official familiar with the incident. A t one point, two planes were just 1.4 miles apart and traveling at 436 miles per hour (701 kilometers per hour) -- a rate that put them just 12 seconds away from a crash, it reported. The FAA could not immediately confirm those details. Reagan airport, on the Potomac River a few miles (kilometers) from the Pentagon, is one of three serving the Washington region. In March last year, a lone controller fell asleep on the midnight shift at the airport with two jetliners en route. The two flights landed without incident. Earlier this year, air traffic controller error was cited in a near-miss of a commuter jet and a small plane in Mississippi.[ I D:nL1E8CIDUA] Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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