Rash of Close Calls Brings Industry Together for Solutions

Personnel from the Air Line Pilots Association spoke at an FAA safety summit, throwing the group's weight behind ongoing safety programs across the aviation industry.

In giving a post-game of their efforts to ALPA membership, the group said it aims to ensure the US "continues to maintain the gold standard of global aviation amid several recent high-profile incidents."

The FAA called the safety summit following a rash of near-collisions at a handful of airports, where inadequate control procedures, inattention or error combined to shave away at the safety buffer between passenger-laden aircraft. Currently, the NTSB is looking into 7 close calls between moving aircraft in the terminal environment, and everyone is eager to prevent a worsening trend.

ALPA president Jason Ambrosi stressed that the industry has to stay on its toes, despite a period of statistical safety. “We can never take safety for granted, and I applaud the FAA for recognizing that we need to take a moment to gather experts and discuss how we can preserve and improve America’s world-leading safety standards. While we are experiencing the safest period in aviation history, there is more we can do to strengthen our overall level of safety and decrease risk.”

“ALPA fully supports these collaborative programs which are great opportunities for industry stakeholders to work together on safety priorities, identify and mitigate issues and improve the aviation system to continue our role as global aviation leaders,” added Ambrosi.

FMI: www.alpa.org