An exclusive report by the New York Post claims that on Monday evening between 18:30 to 21:30, flights out of Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) were handled by just one air traffic controller and a trainee. The report quotes a New York-based controller describing the situation as “pure insanity.” It also noted that an FAA spokesperson said that there were at least three controllers scheduled for each hour on Monday night but did not clarify how many of them were fully certified personnel.
The New York Times reported something similar, adding that four people familiar with the situation said that the number of fully certified controllers on duty to manage Newark’s air traffic was sometimes one or two. These figures are shocking because the target number of controllers for Newark to manage traffic in those hours is around 14-15.
Wasn’t something similar already one of the reasons behid the crash of two airplanes over Switzerland back in the early 2000s? They had a single overworked controller who missed collision course. You’d think people learn from mistakes, but I guess not.
I recall he was left watching someone else’s screen while they went out for a break. He did notice the collision course but unfortunately gave one aircraft a direction that was the opposite of the TCAS directive, then missed further radio comms, so the confused crew followed the ATC order and collided with the other aircraft. I think that air traffic controller got hunted down and killed by the husband of one of the victims too… a horribly tragic story for all concerned really.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Überlingen_mid-air_collision
One of them followed TCAS, according to procedure, the other one mistankenly thought they were supposed to follow ATC. So they both ended up going the same direction.
New Standard Operating Procedure that is clarified after the accident is that you always ignore ATC and follow the TCAS Resolution Advisory.
If ATC says anything, pilots are supposed to say “Unable, Resolution Advisory”