AboutDottie Norkus Expertise I can address questions concerning: airline pilot employment & entry level airline careers in the Unites States, women pilots, flight training, pilot certification, flight scholarships (mostly for women), aviation & airline safety topics, aviation accident investigation, air carrier accidents and airline operations.
***Please note, I cannot address flight training or career queries from outside the United States. If you are not in the USA, please direct your question to the message boards at www.PPRUNE.org as you can surely find an answer there. For those in India try http://www.indianpilots.com
Also, I cannot address questions about aero engineering degree programs/careers or aviation management careers.
Experience U.S. Regional Airline Pilot. I have also had 15 years previous experience in airline ground operations, as well as a part 91 commercial skydive pilot and ferry pilot.
Organizations I belong to I am a charter member of Women In Aviation International as well as the International Organization of Women Pilots: the Ninety Nines. I keep a database of flight scholarships for women (mostly SW USA) and mentor student pilots.
Education/Credentials Embry Riddle Aeronautical University certificate in Aviation Safety/Accident investigation.
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:
