NATCA Says IG Report Finally Exposed Agency "Cover-Up"

There was something rotten at the Dallas-Fort Worth TRACON... and steps have been taken to correct the situation. So says the FAA, which on Thursday announced the removal of two high-level managers from the Terminal Approach Control facility, following a report by the US Department of Transportation's Inspector General (IG) that revealed what the agency calls "the intentional misclassification of operational errors."

In direct response to IG recommendations, the FAA removed both the facility manager and assistant manager at the TRACON from their positions pending a final determination on possible further personnel actions. The agency notes additional personnel actions may be taken.

Specifically, the IG found that management at the Dallas-Fort Worth TRACON investigated operational errors and deviations, but routinely and intentionally misclassified them as pilot errors or non-events. The report was prompted by whistleblower allegations that management was covering up operational errors and deviations.

It found that between November 2005 and July 2007, TRACON managers misclassified 62 air traffic events as pilot deviation or non-events when it fact there were 52 operational errors and 10 operational deviations. The IG found no evidence of misclassification issues beyond the Dallas-Fort Worth TRACON.

Also in response to the allegations contained in the IG report, the Air Traffic Safety Oversight organization has implemented unannounced on-site audits at the TRACON, requiring monthly reports to the FAA's acting administrator. Additionally, the FAA will accelerate deployment of the Traffic Analysis Review Program (TARP) -- software that automatically detects losses of aircraft separation at terminal facilities -- at Dallas-Fort Worth TRACON. The program will be implemented by the end of fiscal year 2008.

"I am deeply disturbed by the findings in this report," said Hank Krakowski, chief operating officer of the FAA's Air Traffic Organization. "I am personally committed to making sure the IG's recommendations are implemented and that managers are held accountable." 

Patrick Forrey -- president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, which is locked in a contentious contract battle with the FAA -- told ANN the IG report exposed "a classic cover-up by FAA management, which is desperate to hide information from the public at all costs," adding the union was "grateful to these government investigators for exposing the truth about the true extent of safety problems at Dallas TRACON.

"The genesis of this investigation was an allegation that FAA management was misclassifying controller errors as pilot errors, known as pilot deviations," Forrey said. "Let me make this point perfectly clear: We are talking about an FAA management cover-up here. Air traffic controllers, whom NATCA represents, are not in a position to classify any pilot deviation, operational error, or operational deviation.

"Controllers report any suspected losses of separation between aircraft and FAA management then determines responsibility," he added. "Any error FAA management misclassified was first identified for investigation by a controller who was doing their job."

Krakowski said the FAA is putting measures in place to ensure that misclassifications won't happen anywhere else in the system. The FAA will establish a nationwide, independent quality assurance position that will report directly to the just-appointed vice president of Safety Services for the Air Traffic Organization, Air Force Reserve Brigadier General Robert O. Tarter. The position will oversee incident reporting, make incident determinations, and audit the data integrity of facility reports. Currently, responsibility for incident determination lies solely with the facility manager.

The FAA believes this move increases accountability of the managers by adding senior-level oversight. The agency will also accelerate the nationwide deployment of the TARP by the end of 2009.

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