San Francisco’s KGO has Problems with the Facts

One Lilian Kim of KGO in San Francisco filed this copyrighted story 28 minutes ago…

Planes Come Within 300 Feet
By Lilian Kim

May 27 – KGO – There was a near miss at SFO, two commuter jets came within 300-feet of each other. The incident happened as one plane was landing while another was taking off. Officials are considering it a serious incursion.

SFO has around three close calls every year. But the near collision Saturday was much closer than what they’ve seen before.

There are roughly 360,000 flights at SFO every year, but on Saturday, two planes got too close for comfort. Two passenger planes came within 300 feet of each other. It happened as one plane had just landed, the other had just taken off. According to the FAA, the departing plane over flew the other aircraft by only 300 feet.

Ian Gregor, FAA Controller: “This appears to be one of the most serious runway events in San Francisco. The controller should not have cleared an aircraft to land and an aircraft to depart on the same time on those intersecting runways.”

The planes involved were small commuter planes, an Emrear 120 and an Emrear 170, one operated by Provence Aero Service the other by SkyWest. The FAA is investigating the near-collision. They say fatigue wasn’t an issue because the air traffic controller had just started his shift. They also say it was not a staffing issue because the tower was fully staffed at the time. They believe the air traffic controller just made an honest mistake.

Ron Wilson, ABC7 Aviation Consultant: “The rule is that this aircraft that is landing, has to be through this intersection at these two runways, before this departing airplane even gets clearance to start rolling for it to takeoff. Apparently that was not the case.”

ABC7 aviation consultant Ron Wilson says the unique layout of SFO makes air traffic control work tedious. As the intersecting runways can often create a confusing situation.

Ron Wilson, ABC7 Aviation Consultant: “All the airplanes are not landing and taking off in the same direction so the looking at the same place all the time. At SFO you have to look at different places.”

No word on how long the FAA needs to investigate this case. They say it’s too soon to say if the air traffic controller will face any disciplinary action.

Copyright 2007, ABC7/KGO-TV/DT.

You know me, Mr. “What the Heck is the Press Thinking?”

Like I said, this came out 28 minutes ago so hell, I don’t have any more info than you. Except for one little tidbit…

Recall Ms Kim saying, “…Ian Gregor, FAA Controller: “This appears to be one of the most serious runway events in San Francisco. The controller should not have cleared an aircraft to land and an aircraft to depart on the same time on those intersecting runways…” Well, my first thought was, “according to the story this just happened yesterday. Who the heck is this controller coming up with this definitive statement about what should or shouldn’t have happened?” Turns out I was right to ask.

Ian Gregor is NOT a controller. He’s the FAA’s Western-Pacific Region Public Affairs guy. Take a look at the FAA website here: http://www.faa.gov/news/contact_information/. Why did Ms. Kim decide to say he was a controller? One can only assume that there’s more mileage in stories about we controllers eating our own.

Now that’s just not fair. While the rest of us wait to learn what really happened here, KGO and the FAA apparently have already made up their minds. Shame on them.

Oh hell, I lied. It’s actually two tidbits (or three, depending upon how you count): Ms. Kim insists that the aircraft involved were an Emrear 120 and an Emrear 170. If she’d bothered to check her facts I’ll bet she’d have found that they’re really Embraer airframes, not Emear. Of course, facts aren’t really that important anyway, are they?

I’ve forwarded this column to KGO. I’ll let you know what the outcome is.

Like I said, shame.
–Dave