Expert: D. Norkus - 11/11/2004

Question
Dear Dottie,
My question is how safe is air traffic? The other day I was tracking a flight online, and the map showed 2,995 flights in air! That just blew my mind! With all the air traffic you would think that there would be more air collisions.

How come they don't make mistakes, when it comes to safety in the air. Thanks, Ken

Answer
Ken

I can't say statistically how safe ATC is, but I can say they are very good at what they do. Air traffic does get very heavy at times, but controllers are only responsible for certain sectors of the airspace so the per controller traffic load is usually managable.

I don't know what their error rate is, but I imagine it isn't that high. As they are human, they do occasionally make mistakes. However, pilots are responsible for see & avoid in visual conditions so that is a backup for the controller. ATC guidance does not relieve airline crews (or any pilot) of their responibility for visual traffic seperation. Additionally, most all airliners are now equipped with Terrain/Collision Avoidance Systems or TCAS. If an another aircraft comes too close, the TCAS will alert and provide instructions to avoid a conflict if a collision may be imminent.

If you want to know the full scoop about ATC and how things work please contact SoCal TRACON specialist Jeff Acord at JRAcord@aol.com with your questions. He has been a controller for well over a decade having worked San Francisco tower to Southern California Approach and a few places in between. He could certainly anwser your specific ATC inquiries. Jeff also guest hosts an aviation radio program available on the net and some of their ATC topics in the archives may be of interest to you:

http://www.talk2k.com/faa/index.htm

Hope that helps
Dottie