Ground Warning System Not Fully Active

Manpower shortages and budget-cuts are to blame for Sunday's very close call on the runway at Chicago's O'Hare Airport... at least, that's how the National Air Traffic Controllers Association sees it.

Local NATCA chief Joe Bellino says there's no doubt that FAA staffing policies were at the root of the near miss between a United 737 and an Atlas Air 747 freighter.

Officials say the United flight had been cleared to take off on Runway 27 Left at around 10 Sunday night. At the same time... the Atlas 747 was cleared to cross the active.

Bellino says the controller handling both aircraft was notified of the conflict by a colleague. He managed to get a warning out to both crews and the 737 climbed over the 747... missing it by as little as 200 feet.

Where was the conflict alert system in all this? Apparently not fully functional, according to wire reports. The FAA says it was being used for training.

Bellino says the incident came at the end of a very difficult shift... where weather had been a problem all day long.

As with the power outage at the Palmdale ARTCC... the NTSB is investigating.

The FAA disputes Bellino's assertion that improper staffing was the problem. The agency says there was a full compliment of controllers and trainees on duty at the time of the near-miss.

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