NATCA Strongly Disputes NTSB Inference of Controller Responsibility in Hudson River...

NATCA Strongly Disputes NTSB Inference of Controller Responsibility in Hudson
River Crash Sequence

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Air traffic controllers today
are strongly disputing misleading and - in one passage - outright false parts
of Friday's NTSB Hudson River mid-air crash press release that mistakenly and
unfairly assign responsibilities to a Teterboro, N.J., controller during the
pre-crash sequence of events that simply did not exist.

At issue are four words in the NTSB press release that wrongly infer that the
Teterboro controller could have warned the pilot of the Piper aircraft about
the helicopter over the Hudson River that the aircraft eventually hit. The
press release infers that at the time the Teterboro controller told the
aircraft to switch his frequency to talk to Newark Tower controllers, there
were several aircraft detected by radar in the area immediately ahead of the
airplane, "including the accident helicopter." NATCA emphatically declares
that these four words are absolutely false and have contributed to the
reckless and mistaken conclusion that the Teterboro controller could have
prevented this crash.

The same NTSB press release clearly states that the helicopter did not show on
radar until 1152.27, seven seconds after communication with the aircraft was
switched from Teterboro to Newark at 1152.20. But the poorly written and
misleading passage about the "accident helicopter" has left the mistaken
impression that the Teterboro controller was responsible for not warning the
aircraft about that traffic.

Furthermore, and equally disturbing, the NTSB privately revealed to NATCA
officials over the weekend that it knows that the four words in question in
its press release are "misleading and inappropriate." A high-ranking NTSB
official stated in an e-mail that the wording "could have been clearer" but
that a correction "will not be issued."

"We believe the NTSB is wrong to infer there was a traffic advisory that
could have been issued from Teterboro Tower to the aircraft," said Ray Adams,
NATCA Facility Representative at Newark Tower who is representing the
Teterboro Tower controller in the NTSB crash investigation. "The helicopter
was not depicted on the radar prior to the switch of control from Teterboro to
Newark Tower. Teterboro had no opportunity to call that traffic. The service
of air traffic control is based on "known and observed" traffic. The Teterboro
controller had neither seen nor known about the accident helicopter at the
transfer of communication to Newark.

"Also, let's remember that the aircraft never made radio contact with Newark,
as Teterboro had requested. Nobody was talking to him. You cannot issue
traffic warnings to a pilot who is not communicating with you. You have to
reach the pilot first and the Teterboro controller - as is accurately made
clear in the NTSB press release- tried twice, to no avail."

Added NATCA President Patrick Forrey: "Let me make this as clear as I can:
our air traffic controller at Teterboro did his job. We believe he is not
responsible for contributing to this tragic accident and there is nothing he
could have done to prevent it from happening. We respect the NTSB and we value
our participation in NTSB investigations. But in this case, the NTSB has
completely ignored our input, painted an unrealistic view of the job
description of a Teterboro controller and fueled a public feeding frenzy that
unfairly blames this particular Teterboro controller for not acting to stop
the sequence of events that led to the crash.

"We respectfully ask that the NTSB immediately act to stop this rush to
judgment that this controller had anything to do with the crash until the
Board's full investigation is complete. An immediate correction of the flawed
press release would be an appropriate first step."

.

SOURCE National Air Traffic Controllers Association

CONTACT: Doug Church, NATCA National Office, +1-301-346-8245