In the United States, 99.998 percent of air traffic operations take place according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) strict safety guidelines. However, with controllers guiding as many as 7,000 flights at any one time, even a fraction of a percent of deviation can put an aircraft at risk.
Without waiting for accidents or incidents to occur, the FAA has found a way to identify and correct potential risks. Two FAA voluntary safety reporting programs for front-line employees already are producing results.
Report Gets a WINKK
As a result of an Air Traffic Safety Action Program (ATSAP) report, pilots flying between two busy Northeast U.S. airports now can use a route that they readily can program into their flight management systems, making it easier for controllers to issue the route clearance and reducing pilot-controller communications.
Before the change, the route between…
