NEWS FROM...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WHEATON, MD--November 22, 1996. The tragic runway collision in Quincy, Illinois on November 19 might not have occurred if the FAA Flight Service Station (FSS) once located at the airport had not been closed in 1989, according to the National Association of Air Traffic Specialists (NAATS). NAATS Executive Director Gary D. Simms stated, "When the Quincy FSS was open, all aircraft approaching were required to contact the FSS by radio on a specified frequency (123.6 mHz) and report their position and intentions. "Once they called in, "incoming traffic was provided with information on all traffic reported and observed at the airport by the Flight Service Station, " he added.
The Quincy FSS, he noted, was physically located with a panoramic view of the entire airport, and could easily have observed the ground traffic in time to warn the approaching United Express flight. This "almost certainly" would have prevented the tragic consequences which ensued, according to Simms.
The FAA has been engaged in consolidating more than 350 small Flight Service Stations (FSS) into a system of 61 Automated Flight Service Stations (AFSS's). Except for a handful of FSS facilities in Alaska, the consolidation is scheduled to be completed this year.
Simms stated that, "While the consolidation program has enabled Flight Service Controllers to have access to improved equipment, the process of consolidation has taken so long that the equipment is now terribly outmoded and in need of replacement." The FAA is now considering procurement of a new system, designated as "OASIS," to replace the outdated equipment used in Flight Service.
Simms added that enhanced computer capabilities "has come at a terrific cost - the loss of person-to-person contact between the Flight Service Controller and the pilot." He added that NAATS wants the FAA to consider providing traditional local services and communication capabilities at the hundreds of locations abandoned by the FAA through the consolidation process. "The new OASIS system, coupled with communication enhancements, could allow Flight Service Controllers stationed in the AFSS locations to provide the same kind of personal service to pilots using all of the fields where Flight Service Stations previously were operational," he remarked.
Simms also noted that the Flight Service work force is rapidly aging and nearing retirement, and that the FAA has no firm plans for replacing them. "Unless the FAA opens up a pipeline for new employment in Flight Service, a continuing reduction in service is inevitable," Simms stated. "And this means that safety will continue to be compromised at hundreds of locations across the country," he concluded.
NAATS is the labor union which represents more than 2,500 men and women who provide the corps of Flight Service Controllers for the FAA.
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Our Address:
NAATS 11303 Amherst Avenue Suite 4 Wheaton, MD 20902 301/933-6228 301/933-3902 fax Walter W. Pike, Chief Executive Officer
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