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The report released by the National Transportation Safety Board doesn't draw conclusions or assess blame for the incidents, which involved landing and departing planes coming within several hundred feet of each other. But it highlights concerns about the configuration of a control tower and two intersecting runways.
Several controllers interviewed after a near miss on August 8, 2011, mentioned an obstruction in the middle of the air-traffic control room that forced controllers to yell vital information across the room. Others complained about potential confusion caused by the two intersecting runways.
The other near miss, which occurred on May 16, 2011, involved a SkyWest Airlines plane en route from Michigan approaching one runway and an ExpressJet Airlines taking off on the intersecting runway for Buffalo, N.Y. According to the report, the ExpressJet captain and others interviewed blamed at least one air-traffic controller for either forgetting or overlooking that the SkyWest plane had been given the OK to land.
The ExpressJet captain said his plane began roaring down a runway when he heard a distressed air traffic controller say, "Uhh!" Seconds later, the captain saw the landing SkyWest plane heading straight for his and frantically told his co-pilot to "stay low."
After the danger passed and he regained his composure, the captain radioed the tower after "nearly getting killed" and screamed at the air-traffic controller, "What the (expletive) was that?" according to the NTSB report.
Originally posted by Magnum007
With all the traffic (isn't chicago the busiest airport in the world?) it is a statistical guarantee that there will be mistakes made...
the only way to prevent these mistakes are to :
a) expand the airport by adding more runways and taxiways
b) reduce the amount of aircraft accepted into the airport's airspace
c) reduce the amount of aircraft accepted to land at this airport
Short of that, there will someday be a serious accident.
Originally posted by jhn7537
Originally posted by Magnum007
With all the traffic (isn't chicago the busiest airport in the world?) it is a statistical guarantee that there will be mistakes made...
the only way to prevent these mistakes are to :
a) expand the airport by adding more runways and taxiways
b) reduce the amount of aircraft accepted into the airport's airspace
c) reduce the amount of aircraft accepted to land at this airport
Short of that, there will someday be a serious accident.
And that's what scares me... one day there definitely will be...
They are constantly talking expansion at O'Hare but I just dont see how much bigger they can make this airport...