Texasskicker
Flexjet and Dang proud
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Teterboro pilots get told: Pay attention!
Sunday, April 17, 2005
By SHANNON D. HARRINGTON
STAFF WRITER
At least 30 jets departing Teterboro Airport last year strayed from flight paths intended to keep them from colliding with jets arriving at Newark Liberty International Airport and other aircraft, federal aviation reports show.
The flight path deviations show pilots leaving assigned altitudes or headings after being distracted or fatigued, misreading departure procedures or misunderstanding air traffic controller instructions. The data cover the first eight months of 2004 and are the most recent available.
"I was taking a peek at the Manhattan skyline," the pilot of a Challenger business jet acknowledged in a safety report last May after he climbed 250 feet too high. "Pay attention and save sightseeing for later," the pilot said in a report to the federal Aviation Safety Reporting System, run by NASA.
The numbers shed further light on a problem identified by the Federal Aviation Administration last month at the busy general aviation airport.
In a nationwide e-mail to pilots using Teterboro, the FAA said that too many were overshooting assigned takeoff altitudes, and the agency warned them to pay closer attention to departure procedures.
"There are specific rules of the road," said FAA spokesman Jim Peters, noting that two pilots were cited for altitude deviations in 2004 and three so far in 2005. "If they deviate from those rules, they're not in compliance."
The NASA program tracks aviation incidents and makes the data available on the Internet. Pilots are encouraged to report their mistakes, and they are granted anonymity and immunity from FAA enforcement actions.
Pilots are protected so the FAA can identify problems before they become accidents.
"The stress is safety, not punishment," said J.P. Tristani, a flight instructor and retired Eastern Airlines pilot from Ramsey. "They're more interested in correcting what is wrong."
In most cases, a few hundred feet off the flight path isn't going to put a jet on an immediate collision course with another aircraft. Pilots and aviation experts say there is enough padding built into the air traffic system to absorb minor pilot errors.
But in the world's busiest airspace, where upward of 40 jets could be cruising the air within a 20-mile radius at any given time, close attention to flight patterns becomes much more critical, aviation experts say.
Teterboro had 202,000 takeoffs and landings in 2004. The three commercial airports in the region logged a combined 1.1 million flights.
"The problem with Teterboro is that it's within 20 miles of three major airports," Tristani said. "Those particular large airports - JFK, La Guardia and Newark - have almost preferential departure routes, whereas Teterboro is squeezed in. There must be far more awareness in Teterboro."
The main problem, aviation safety reports show, has been at Teterboro's Runway 24, where jets take off heading southwest, crisscrossing a Newark Liberty arrival route.
Planes departing Runway 24 are instructed to maintain an altitude of 1,500 feet before making a sharp right turn to avoid the Newark flight path, where jets could be descending from around 3,000 feet.
Too many errors in that hot spot, aviation experts say, and you have a recipe for disaster.
"It's not ever one thing that causes one demise," said Brian Alexander, a pilot and aviation attorney who has represented the victims of aircraft accidents. "Most of the time, particularly when you're talking about midair [collisions], it's always a series of events that come together. [With flight path deviations], you've added another human factor element to the chain of events that heightens the likelihood of a tragedy."
That seems to have been the case for a crew of a twin-jet Cessna Citation Bravo making its final flight of a long day in January 2004.
Shortly after taking off from Runway 24, according to a safety report filed by the captain, the crew realized they had climbed to 1,900 feet, 400 feet too high. They started to descend, the pilot said, but lagged in making the right turn.
Before they knew what was happening, the plane's collision avoidance system activated, alerting them to a Newark-bound airliner about two miles away - too close for comfort with jets traveling hundreds of miles per hour.
In the report, crew members blamed the incident on a series of mistakes.
A cockpit altitude setting was incorrectly programmed by 3,500 feet. And while descending, the pilot acknowledged that the crew was taking the descent and turn slow to keep the flight smooth and passengers happy.
Crew members also said they were somewhat rushed during flight preparation.
Rushing through preflight checks seemed to be a common theme throughout the pilots' reports.
The captain of a twin-engine corporate jet who climbed to 2,000 feet on a takeoff last August admitted to simply glancing at the departure instructions before takeoff.
"Our passenger had shown up 20 minutes early, so we were in a little hurry to get things done and get going," the pilot said.
Another pilot said their crew breezed through flight preparation after being pressured by an air traffic controller to depart.
Other crews blamed miscommunication, faulty altimeter settings or simply inexperience for missing their mark.
The captain of a Beechjet 400 that departed Teterboro last April said flight crew mistakes in setting the plane's altitude gauge caused readings to be off by 1,000 feet.
A month later, an air carrier captain blamed inexperience and miscommunication. "I feel intimidated when flying in New York airspace," the captain said in a report.
The large number of reported flight path deviations was a little unsettling to homeowners and airport neighbors.
"It's creating a very dangerous situation," said Carol Skiba, a Hasbrouck Heights councilwoman and member of a group trying to pressure the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to scale back operations at Teterboro. "When will the over-intensification of this airport stop? When people die?"
FAA and the Port Authority officials say they are doing all they can to address the issue.
In addition to the FAA's e-mail alert, which went to more than 155,000 pilots and airport users, the Port Authority has held forums to discuss the high number of reported pilot errors. Posters cautioning pilots are being taped up in the flight operations briefing room. And new flight operators are being given orientation packages.
"Communication is the key, and making everyone aware of the importance of this issue is critical," said Port Authority spokesman Tony Ciavolella.
Some pilots calling into the reporting system have complained that the departure procedures are too difficult to read, with instructions blended together.
"When you look at [La Guardia's departure procedures], they separate each set of instructions with a line," one flight captain said after reporting an altitude overshoot. "When you add in a dark cockpit and being in a hurry, it can lead to confusion."
Peters, the FAA spokesman, said the agency should, perhaps, look into whether departure procedure charts need to be made easier to read. But the burden is still on the pilots to understand the instructions, he said.
"It's the pilots' responsibility to fly the procedure, period," Peters said.
_____________________________________
ENGAGE BRAIN before 1. Departing TEB, and 2. Completing a NASA form!
Tx.
Sunday, April 17, 2005
By SHANNON D. HARRINGTON
STAFF WRITER
At least 30 jets departing Teterboro Airport last year strayed from flight paths intended to keep them from colliding with jets arriving at Newark Liberty International Airport and other aircraft, federal aviation reports show.
The flight path deviations show pilots leaving assigned altitudes or headings after being distracted or fatigued, misreading departure procedures or misunderstanding air traffic controller instructions. The data cover the first eight months of 2004 and are the most recent available.
"I was taking a peek at the Manhattan skyline," the pilot of a Challenger business jet acknowledged in a safety report last May after he climbed 250 feet too high. "Pay attention and save sightseeing for later," the pilot said in a report to the federal Aviation Safety Reporting System, run by NASA.
The numbers shed further light on a problem identified by the Federal Aviation Administration last month at the busy general aviation airport.
In a nationwide e-mail to pilots using Teterboro, the FAA said that too many were overshooting assigned takeoff altitudes, and the agency warned them to pay closer attention to departure procedures.
"There are specific rules of the road," said FAA spokesman Jim Peters, noting that two pilots were cited for altitude deviations in 2004 and three so far in 2005. "If they deviate from those rules, they're not in compliance."
The NASA program tracks aviation incidents and makes the data available on the Internet. Pilots are encouraged to report their mistakes, and they are granted anonymity and immunity from FAA enforcement actions.
Pilots are protected so the FAA can identify problems before they become accidents.
"The stress is safety, not punishment," said J.P. Tristani, a flight instructor and retired Eastern Airlines pilot from Ramsey. "They're more interested in correcting what is wrong."
In most cases, a few hundred feet off the flight path isn't going to put a jet on an immediate collision course with another aircraft. Pilots and aviation experts say there is enough padding built into the air traffic system to absorb minor pilot errors.
But in the world's busiest airspace, where upward of 40 jets could be cruising the air within a 20-mile radius at any given time, close attention to flight patterns becomes much more critical, aviation experts say.
Teterboro had 202,000 takeoffs and landings in 2004. The three commercial airports in the region logged a combined 1.1 million flights.
"The problem with Teterboro is that it's within 20 miles of three major airports," Tristani said. "Those particular large airports - JFK, La Guardia and Newark - have almost preferential departure routes, whereas Teterboro is squeezed in. There must be far more awareness in Teterboro."
The main problem, aviation safety reports show, has been at Teterboro's Runway 24, where jets take off heading southwest, crisscrossing a Newark Liberty arrival route.
Planes departing Runway 24 are instructed to maintain an altitude of 1,500 feet before making a sharp right turn to avoid the Newark flight path, where jets could be descending from around 3,000 feet.
Too many errors in that hot spot, aviation experts say, and you have a recipe for disaster.
"It's not ever one thing that causes one demise," said Brian Alexander, a pilot and aviation attorney who has represented the victims of aircraft accidents. "Most of the time, particularly when you're talking about midair [collisions], it's always a series of events that come together. [With flight path deviations], you've added another human factor element to the chain of events that heightens the likelihood of a tragedy."
That seems to have been the case for a crew of a twin-jet Cessna Citation Bravo making its final flight of a long day in January 2004.
Shortly after taking off from Runway 24, according to a safety report filed by the captain, the crew realized they had climbed to 1,900 feet, 400 feet too high. They started to descend, the pilot said, but lagged in making the right turn.
Before they knew what was happening, the plane's collision avoidance system activated, alerting them to a Newark-bound airliner about two miles away - too close for comfort with jets traveling hundreds of miles per hour.
In the report, crew members blamed the incident on a series of mistakes.
A cockpit altitude setting was incorrectly programmed by 3,500 feet. And while descending, the pilot acknowledged that the crew was taking the descent and turn slow to keep the flight smooth and passengers happy.
Crew members also said they were somewhat rushed during flight preparation.
Rushing through preflight checks seemed to be a common theme throughout the pilots' reports.
The captain of a twin-engine corporate jet who climbed to 2,000 feet on a takeoff last August admitted to simply glancing at the departure instructions before takeoff.
"Our passenger had shown up 20 minutes early, so we were in a little hurry to get things done and get going," the pilot said.
Another pilot said their crew breezed through flight preparation after being pressured by an air traffic controller to depart.
Other crews blamed miscommunication, faulty altimeter settings or simply inexperience for missing their mark.
The captain of a Beechjet 400 that departed Teterboro last April said flight crew mistakes in setting the plane's altitude gauge caused readings to be off by 1,000 feet.
A month later, an air carrier captain blamed inexperience and miscommunication. "I feel intimidated when flying in New York airspace," the captain said in a report.
The large number of reported flight path deviations was a little unsettling to homeowners and airport neighbors.
"It's creating a very dangerous situation," said Carol Skiba, a Hasbrouck Heights councilwoman and member of a group trying to pressure the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to scale back operations at Teterboro. "When will the over-intensification of this airport stop? When people die?"
FAA and the Port Authority officials say they are doing all they can to address the issue.
In addition to the FAA's e-mail alert, which went to more than 155,000 pilots and airport users, the Port Authority has held forums to discuss the high number of reported pilot errors. Posters cautioning pilots are being taped up in the flight operations briefing room. And new flight operators are being given orientation packages.
"Communication is the key, and making everyone aware of the importance of this issue is critical," said Port Authority spokesman Tony Ciavolella.
Some pilots calling into the reporting system have complained that the departure procedures are too difficult to read, with instructions blended together.
"When you look at [La Guardia's departure procedures], they separate each set of instructions with a line," one flight captain said after reporting an altitude overshoot. "When you add in a dark cockpit and being in a hurry, it can lead to confusion."
Peters, the FAA spokesman, said the agency should, perhaps, look into whether departure procedure charts need to be made easier to read. But the burden is still on the pilots to understand the instructions, he said.
"It's the pilots' responsibility to fly the procedure, period," Peters said.
_____________________________________
ENGAGE BRAIN before 1. Departing TEB, and 2. Completing a NASA form!
Tx.
