Lack Of Training Also Cited For Improper Turnouts

A new procedure in effect since December at Newark Liberty International Airport is causing some confusion and potential safety risk, according to air traffic control union officials.

Historically, aircraft departing to the southwest have made a left turnout after takeoff, but the new procedure allows controllers to tell pilots to make a right turn after takeoff as part of a new takeoff pattern aimed at reducing congestion at the airport.

The confusion has led to several incidents in which aircraft have turned the wrong direction upon departure, three of which happened within the past month according to Ray Adams, vice president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. He added none of the incidents caused spacing conflicts.

Jim Peters, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, confirmed to the Associated Press an incident on May 1 involving a United Airlines flight that turned the wrong way on departure. But he said FAA logs had no record of two other separate incidents involving planes operated by Virgin Atlantic and Continental.

Adams and Newark union president Ed Kragh contend a controller did indeed note the incidents, occurring within about an hour of each other, and then notified a supervisor in writing.

Union officials said the incident involved a Continental Airlines aircraft taking off on runway 22R turned left when the controller directed the pilot to turn right. Later the same day, a controller in training confused the flight numbers of two aircraft, sending them both in the wrong direction.

NATCA claims controller staffing is exacerbating the situation as the FAA brings in new, inexperienced controllers to adequately staff departures.

"The trainees the FAA has been sending us ... they don't send controllers. They send us trainees," Adams said to WCBS-TV.

Many pilots aren't notified of the specifics of the new pattern until they are on the runway preparing to take off, Adams said. "We're running into confusion at the runway," he said to WCBS-TV last week. "The pilots are being told one thing 30 minutes before departure and then they get on the runway and we're required to tell them another thing."

The new pattern is used during peak departure times, allowing planes to depart with less distance between them since their paths will diverge once they are airborne, Kragh said.

When a pilot turns the wrong way on takeoff, the action may put the planes closer together than is allowed under FAA regulations, he added.

Before the new procedure was instituted in December, airlines were alerted to its details according to the FAA. Additionally, the details of the procedure are announced on the Airport Terminal Information Service (ATIS) broadcast that pilots monitor before contacting ground control.

Kragh said the ATIS reference is not specific enough and prompts many questions from pilots.

Originally when the new procedure was implemented, he said, controllers gave pilots specific information about the takeoff procedure when they first made contact with the tower, about 30 minutes prior to takeoff.

Because of the volume of questions and confusion from pilots, controllers' ability to carry out their additional duties was compromised, thus prompting orders by supervisors not to specify the new procedure until planes were on the runway according to Kragh.
The FAA did not comment on that claim.

Controllers at Newark have been pushing the FAA to "publish" the new procedure so that its chart is available to pilots in the cockpit for reference. FAA spokesman Peters said to the AP last week the FAA won't publish it until more work is done on the overall airspace redesign.

Newark's airspace is part of a network of three major airports in the region, including New York City's La Guardia Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport. All three have been the targets of criticism in federal reports pointing to their congestion as cause for significant delays nationwide.

The new takeoff pattern from Newark is part of the first phase of a general redesign of the airspace in the region. Also included in the first phase is a cap on the number of flights at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

FMI: www.panynj.org, www.faa.gov, www.natca.org