- [ATC Controller] Delta 1943 cancel takeoff clearance.
- [Narrator] So far this year there have been
at least six aircraft close calls
that have rattled
both aviation officials and travelers.
- [Operator] You have the runway yet?
- [Pilot] We're going around.
- [Operator 2] Line up and wait,
traffic rolling across the runway.
JetBlue 206, go around.
- [Narrator] Some safety officials say the increase
in collision warnings might be explained
in part by pilots and air traffic controllers
grappling with the rise in postpandemic traffic.
Here's a breakdown of one
of this year's near collisions
and what the busiest airport in the world does
to prevent close calls like it.
On February 4th
at Austin Bergstrom International Airport,
a FedEx plane was cleared to land
around 6:40 AM local time.
It was still mostly dark and visibility was poor
due to weather conditions.
When the FedEx plane was approximately three miles away,
an air traffic controller cleared a Southwest flight
to depart that same runway.
As the FedEx plane was landing,
its pilots noticed the Southwest flight was still
on the runway.
- [Operator 3] Southwest board.
FedEx is on the go.
- [Narrator] So the FedEx pilots initiated a go-around
and safely landed 12 minutes later.
But this could have been a disaster.
The Southwest flight had 128 people on board.
A FedEx spokeswoman said the company
appreciated the efforts from its flight crew
to land the Austin flight safely.
And in a message to employees,
Southwest Chief Executive Bob Jordan
commended the Southwest crew
and said the airline would fully participate
in the investigation.
The FAA and NTSB are investigating six serious
runway incursions that have occurred
so far this year.
These incidents show how important air traffic control is
in keeping planes safe.
So to understand how it works,
we went to the world's busiest airport.
- Delta 2899, give way
to the inbound RJ at five.
- [Narrator] This is the air traffic control tower
at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
It's responsible for the airspace
approximately five miles out and 4,000 feet
above the airport.
- If we're really busy
and you're working the clear takeoff runway,
you could have 20 airplanes in line
that are all on your frequency at once.
- [Narrator] Drew Buckman has been an air traffic controller
for almost 18 years.
- [Drew] You're looking for those little abnormalities
here and there, and you can't help it anymore.
It's just what you're trained to do here.
- [Narrator] Air traffic control towers are managed
by the FAA.
Atlanta's Tower operates 24X7
due to its high volume.
But smaller airports sometimes go uncontrolled
when volume is low though pilots
can still communicate
with the terminal radar approach control facility
or an air route traffic control center, if needed.
Controllers in Atlanta juggle
around 2100 flights a day
so they're only allowed to work
in the tower for two hours at a time.
There are three main positions
that controllers work in Atlanta's Tower.
- [Controller 1] The local control are the tower controllers
that are working airplanes
on each individual runway.
Delta 398, tower runway two six left full length,
line up and wait, traffic is downfield.
- Ground controllers are doing
what the title suggests
and you're working airplanes on the ground.
- Delta 2694 Atlanta ground.
- And then we do have a third position
which is called clearance delivery
and they're the ones
who are giving the clearances to the pilots,
either electronically or by voice.
- [Narrator] Here's what that process looks like
for a plane departing from Atlanta.
When an aircraft is ready to taxi,
clearance delivery creates a flight progress strip
that has key information like the type
of aircraft and its departure gate.
- [Drew] The proposed time is here.
It is in Zulu time.
- [Narrator] Which is the standard time used
across the aviation industry.
- [Drew] Its requested final altitude
is gonna be 37,000 feet.
- [Narrator] All this information helps controllers
keep track of where every plane
at the airport is going
to avoid collisions.
Next, clearance delivery slides that strip over
to the ground controller,
who puts the scripts in a sequence.
This is the order in which planes will line
up on the runway.
- [Drew] Once they get the aircraft taxied down
and it's in the order they want it to be in,
then they'll switch it over to local control
- [Narrator] Who will scan the barcode
on the flight strip
and clear the plane for takeoff.
Before controllers can work with real planes
in the tower, they spend a six to
eight weeks training here in the simulator.
(indistinct chatter)
- Southwest 1042 contact-
- [Narrator] Where they practice working
in all kinds of weather conditions,
like rain and fog.
- [Drew] In those foggy situations,
when I can't see out the window,
this radar here is gonna gimme the tools
that I need to be able to see
what's actually happening outside of the tower.
- [Narrator] Controllers also use this airborne radar
to monitor planes in the air.
- [Drew] What we look at here, it's telling us
which runway they're gonna land on,
the type of aircraft, the altitude,
and the speed of each aircraft as well.
- [Narrator] This information helps controllers
keep aircraft a safe distance apart in the air
somewhere between three and eight miles,
depending on the weight of the aircraft.
In that near collision in Austin, Texas,
the two planes ended
up approximately 100 feet from each other
according to preliminary data
from the National Transportation Safety Board.
In all situations, the FAA says,
"Communication between pilots
and air traffic controllers is key."
(crosstalk)
Pilots and air traffic controllers have
to be proficient in the use
of the International Civil Aviation Organization's
standard phraseology.
- [Drew] The typical ones are clear
for takeoff and clear land.
Those are the ones people know.
Go around means cancel your approach clearance,
we're gonna send you around
and you're gonna come back and land again.
- [Narrator] Some commands require a specific response
from the pilot
- Whenever we tell them to hold short
of runway two six right,
I need for them to read that exact phraseology
back which tells me that they understand
that that runway is active
and that they cannot cross that runway
until they get further clearance.
(crosstalk)
- [Narrator] But hearing the correct read back
from the pilot isn't always enough.
For example, on February 27th,
an air traffic controller instructed a pilot to-
- [Controller 2] Line up and wait,
traffic rolling across the runway.
- [Narrator] And the pilot read
back the instructions clearly
but began a takeoff role instead.
Controllers also have a lot of FAA guidelines
and regulations they need to follow.
- And this is it.
The 7110.65 is well,
people like to call it our Bible.
Controllers like to call it point 65,
but this is everything that is required
for us in order to do our jobs
on a daily basis.
- [Narrator] In light of the recent close calls,
the FAA held a safety summit in March.
- Are we emphasizing efficiency over safety?
- Initial information suggests that more mistakes
than usual are happening across the system.
On runways, at gates when planes are pushing
back, in control towers and on flight decks.
- [Narrator] The FAA issued a safety alert a week later
calling on airlines to exercise continued vigilance.
Joint FAA industry groups have stepped
up efforts to analyze and counter the trend
according to industry documents
and officials involved.
Officials haven't issued emergency orders
or mandated other changes
to carrier operations yet and they don't think
there are imminent risks to passengers.
But safety experts say they are concerned
that potential collision risks
could continue to rise.
Still, Buckman says controllers are trained
to deal with unusual situations, which can happen
from time to time.
- There's always a plan B,
there's always a plan C.
You always have to be planning
for what's gonna happen next.
(dramatic music)