EWRflyr

(CNN) -- Federal investigators are concerned a potential danger persists because of the simultaneous use of intersecting runways at Newark Liberty International Airport, one of the nation's busiest and a gateway to the New York metro area.


The alert comes after repeated instances in which planes above the Newark airport flew too close to each other in violation of safety standards. There were four such instances last year and at least four this year, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation inspector general.


In one case, on January 16, 2008, two Continental planes -- a Boeing B-737 and an Embraer 145 -- missed each other by 600 feet, according to a DOT inspector general's report.


"That was very scary. I was there for that one personally in the control tower, and it scared the heck out of everybody up there," said Ray Adams, a Newark air traffic controller.


Potential danger arises when approaching planes need to abort their landings, which happens about every 700 flights at Newark, according to a Federal Aviation Administration analysis.


In what the FAA calls "go-arounds," the diverted plane approaching Newark has to make a sharp right turn through the flight path of planes landing and taking off from an intersecting runway, allowing little margin for error.


"There was a distinct possibility that we could have had a collision with these operations," Adams said.


Adams said he raised the safety issue to the FAA but got nowhere. He persisted, taking his complaint to New Jersey's congressional delegation, which organized two meetings last year with FAA officials.


In response, Adams said, he was punished, put on paid leave for 11 months, then leave without pay for a month. The FAA said the disciplinary actions had nothing to do with Adams' safety complaints.


Adams filed a whistle-blower complaint with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, the agency that investigates whistle-blower complaints. Adams' complaint led DOT Inspector General Calvin Scovel to investigate. Scovel found merit in Adams' concerns, concluding in a report two months ago that "questions about the safety of the runway 22L-11 approach configuration at Newark persist."


In response, the FAA promised to use a computer program that helps air traffic controllers stagger aircraft to ensure proper spacing.


On November 5, the DOT wrote to the Office of Special Counsel confirming the computer system had been put to use at Newark on October 26. The next day the Office of Special Counsel learned the technology was no longer in use at Newark.


"I am outraged," said Rep. Donald Payne, D-New Jersey. "When you put into jeopardy the human lives at risk, it can't get any more serious than that."


FAA spokesperson Laura Brown said, "There was no intent to deceive anyone about what we were doing." She added, "FAA safety officers wanted to make absolutely sure employees were fully trained on the equipment." The FAA said it intends to have the computer system fully operational at Newark by mid-December.


Last week the Office of Special Counsel raised the matter with President Obama, writing that "we found a substantial likelihood that FAA officials were engaging in conduct that constitutes gross mismanagement and a substantial and specific danger to public safety."


Meanwhile, after a year out of the control tower, Adams returned to his regular job Wednesday at Newark air traffic control.

cal73

.............

Captain Bligh

I got a real simple solution. Ban all aircraft with less than 150 seats from EWR.

TonyWilliams

And that will prevent a mid-air collision between a landing aircraft and a go-around... how exactly?

Kingjay

less airplanes

KC10 FATboy

Also, nobody landing on the short runway ... which crosses the longer one.

afterburn81

Hope those big brown airplanes don't want to go there........sounds like a great idea.

Bucking Bar

Might not be an entirely bad idea to restrict EWR to the use of the primary runway. It is frequently a goat rope when the crossing runway is being used for arrivals. Having been sent around there and observing the flow, it is a place where you're fingering the TOGA buttons all the way to the flare. Then going missed off a visual seems to always confound the controllers, although you think they'd be ready for the question.

The RJ's have not been an issue as much as the biz jets have. I can understand the controllers' issues with sequencing when a Citation does 100 knots all the way in and a Falcon driver holds max forward warp until short final. Having flown 91 and 121, there is a huge variance in the profiles that those aircraft and pilots fly.

They don't have to "close" the airport to part 91 at certain times of the day, but 30 minutes of holding for sequencing will send the message that Teterboro is a "more convenient" destination.

BoilerUP

You just described ops at every busy airline airport in the country. MDW, PHL, ORD, LAX, DFW, MCO, etc...they're all like this. Because many bizjets have Vref speeds slower than the larger airline traffic around them (roughly 110kt in my Citation and 142+5 in a CRJ2 @ MLW)the pilots of those airplanes need to be cognizant of their surroundings and fly like a freakin' professional in order to better mix and make everyone's lives a little easier.

I believe most small-cabin (500-560 series) Citations have a final flap speed somewhere around 160kt. Assuming one is on the glideslope and with the drag of landing flaps, its a snap to keep the speed 140-150KIAS until a 3 mile final and be slowed to meet stabilized approach criteria at 500agl.

I've done it at ATL, EWR, MDW, etc. with no issues created for the traffic landing behind me.

Bucking Bar

Boiler ... exactly... and many (most actually) do mix well with the traffic. There are just a few. And some of the RJ's and longer fuselage 737's have very high VREF speeds that make them significantly less flexible. Does CO operate the -900 out of there?