A few days ago, two Delta jets experienced a remarkably near miss above the runways of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), which can be characterized as a significant situational awareness lapse on the air traffic controller’s part.
ATC directed a Delta aircraft straight into the trajectory of another aircraft
VASAviation has obtained the audio of the air traffic control communications and a depiction of the incident that occurred recently at Atlanta Airport. For context on the two aircraft involved:
– Delta flight DL2472 was an Airbus A321 taking off for Rochester (ROC) that received takeoff clearance on runway 26L
– Delta flight DL1568 was a Boeing 737 arriving from Pittsburgh (PIT) that was cleared to land on runway 26R around the same timeframe
You might consider this unremarkable, except for the fact that the pilots of DL1568 decided to perform a go-around at the last moment, as the Frontier Airlines jet that landed prior didn’t vacate the runway with enough space. Fair enough.
At this stage, there was a Delta 737 circling above one runway, and a Delta A321 departing from a parallel runway. While not the optimal scenario, it wasn’t a major concern, since they maintained different altitudes and were flying parallel on the same headings.
It’s not like the air traffic controller would direct the two aircraft toward a collision course… right? Well, actually…
Somehow, the air traffic controller appeared unaware of how close the aircraft were to each other, leading to the situation deteriorating. The air traffic controller subsequently instructed the aircraft on the left (taking off from runway 26L) to make a sharp right turn, despite the aircraft going around (from runway 26R) being situated to its right.
That’s correct, she directed the aircraft on the left directly into the path of the aircraft on the right. This triggered a TCAS alert, to which the pilots responded. It appeared the planes were essentially on top of one another, with a vertical separation of roughly 500 feet.
For those unfamiliar with TCAS, it stands for Traffic Collision Avoidance System, and it provides resolution advisories to pilots, outlining maneuvers to execute when traffic is perilously close.
At this juncture, the air traffic controller seemed to enter a state of shock and struggled to handle the circumstances. After about a minute, she was replaced by another controller to allow her a moment to regain composure, or something similar.
Thankfully, the aircraft quickly established enough distance and proceeded on their respective paths without further issues.
There are numerous aspects that were flawed in this scenario
On the most fundamental level, this was human error. I suspect that the air traffic controller’s directive for a right turn was actually intended for the aircraft executing a go-around, not for the plane that had just taken off. As can be heard, the pilots of DL2474 seemed taken aback by their altitude and heading commands, which is why they sought clarification.
That’s quite a significant error to make when two planes are already in such close proximity. She clearly lacked situational awareness, as she was providing another aircraft with taxi instructions while two planes were continuously getting nearer.
Additionally, another pilot interjecting with “damn boys” on a frequency didn’t help matters either. Furthermore, there’s the entire culture in the United States surrounding non-standard phraseology, issuing landing instructions prior to the runway being clear, etc. It seems we no longer maintain the safety margins we once did.
Bottom line
We witnessed a perilously close encounter above the skies of Atlanta Airport recently, when one Delta aircraft was taking off, and another was executing a go-around on parallel runways. The air traffic controller appeared preoccupied and initially failed to recognize how closely the planes were approaching each other. However, she exacerbated the situation when she instructed the aircraft on the left to turn right, directly into the path of the aircraft on the right. As is often the case, TCAS came to the rescue.
What are your thoughts on this ATL near miss?