Second Time This Year At Pittsburgh International Airport

The FAA says it's looking into five incidents in which controllers cleared five planes, including three commercial flights, for takeoff from runway 28R at Pittsburgh International Airport last week. The problem is that the runway was closed due to lightning damage to the lighting.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports the takeoffs happened between 0720 and 0728 the morning of Tuesday, September 28, even though the FAA says controllers were aware the runway wasn't open. The paper reports a visual aid in the tower had been damaged and did not display the closed runway information. All of the flights departed safely. There was no one working on the runway at the time, and no injuries were reported.

The airport authority was scheduled to meet with the FAA to discuss the incidents. After a similar case involving takeoffs from runway 10C at the same airport back in January, five hours after that runway was closed for maintenance, controllers were required to get refresher training.

FMI: www.pitairport.com