O'Hare airport safety stats look better so far this year

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After a year of jarring near-collisions and a markedly high number of controller mistakes, O'Hare International Airport has started off 2007 much safer for fliers.

In the first six months of this year, controllers in O'Hare's tower have made three so-called operational errors compared to 13 in all of last year. More importantly, the number of severe near- collisions on runways has dropped.

"So far we are doing very well," says Elizabeth Cory, spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

In the first six months of 2006, O'Hare recorded four high-risk near-collisions with six more coming by the end of the year.

The most stomach-churning episode came July 23 when a United Airlines pilot had to desperately pull up early during takeoff to avoid colliding with a cargo jet crossing the runway.

The United Boeing 737 loaded with passengers came within 35 feet of clipping the cargo jet's tail, avoiding a collision that could have killed scores.

An O'Hare tower controller who directed the jets onto crossing paths without realizing it was reprimanded, according to the FAA.

Joseph Bellino, union leader for the tower's controllers, says he has no excuse for such terrifying close calls. But he says fliers will see fewer mistakes this year.

"Everything is working the way it is supposed to," he said.

Controller operational errors are not the same as near- collisions, which are called runway incursions in the industry. A runway incursion is determined when there is a risk of collision between planes, but an error is recorded when a controller deviates from FAA protocol. Still, both paint a picture of safety at an airport.

Bellino attributes the increase in errors last year - there were just eight in 2005 - to the tightening of FAA standards. He said the majority of recorded errors in 2006 would not have been cited by the FAA in the past because O'Hare previously had more lax rules because of the airport's busy nature.

For example, controllers can be cited if they allow planes to come within three miles of each other. Previously O'Hare operators were given a bit of latitude on that rule, but now a citation is issued if a computer spots jets just hundreds of feet closer than three miles.

This year, Bellino says, the controllers are accustomed to the new rules and abiding by them more thoroughly, causing the drop in errors.

"We are all pretty used to the new way of doing business," he said.

Cory says more controller training and attention to detail sparked by last year's near-collisions are the biggest factors in reducing errors at O'Hare.

"It is hard to pin it down to any one thing," she said. "We just keep working to monitor the situation and make it as safe as possible."

Still, Bellino admits his argument does not account for the high number of dangerous near-collisions in 2006. Controllers involved in those incidents have all been reprimanded to varying degrees.

So far this year, five so-called runway incursions have occurred at O'Hare, but they are all at the lowest end of the risk scale, Cory said. All but one was the fault of a pilot.

In one case, on Feb. 8, a landing American Airlines jet was directed to turn off its runway onto a taxiway but stop before crossing a second runway. Instead, the pilot continued to cross the runway and a controller was forced to order an American Eagle jet to abort its landing, Bellino said. The planes were more than 9,000 feet apart.

Even if the American Eagle plane had landed, that pilot intended to turn off the runway well before encountering the errant American Airlines pilot, Bellino said.

In most of these cases, it is human error that leads to the danger, Cory says. But in the coming months O'Hare is expected to debut a new $12 million ground radar system that will notify controllers of imminent accidents and allow them to better track jets on the ground.

Installation of the system is on an accelerated schedule because of last year's near-collisions. The system has been at other airports for years.

"We can't wait to get that system," Bellino said. "I think that has time goes on we will have fewer and fewer (errors)."

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