Officials Blame Communications Confusion

A communication failure did occur between air traffic controllers and a regional jet at a Midwest airport Wednesday night, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials confirmed... but the jet did not come close to colliding with another airplane.

Sometime after 10 pm Wednesday, the FAA office in Chicago lost radio contact with a Northwest Airlink regional jet sitting on the runway at Waterloo Regional Airport (ALO) in Waterloo, IA. At the same time, a Beechcraft Bonanza was landing on an intersecting runway, reports The Associated Press.

FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro says it doesn't appear the two airplanes were close to a collision.

According to Molinaro, the FAA confirmed the regional jet was aware the Bonanza was landing at the airport.

After that time, Molinaro speculated that the regional jet switched communication frequencies, perhaps to avoid interference on other channels, but may have switched to the wrong frequency.

"That's why we are looking into it," said Molinaro. "We want to determine whether the regional jet made a mistake or if it was something in the manual or something we said that caused the problem."

Molinaro added the regional jet's traffic advisory system would have sounded an alarm if the Bonanza had come too close.

Air traffic control communication is normally handled through the Waterloo tower. Like many regional airports, however, the tower is closed after 10 pm each night, with approach and departure clearances handled by Chicago center, 200 miles away.

Waterloo Regional Airport has three runways: Runway 12/30 at 8400', Runway 18/36 at 6002' and Runway 6/24 at 5403. Runway 6/24 is typically not used when the tower is closed.

The FAA plans to investigate the incident further in hopes of avoiding such communication breakdowns in the future.

Waterloo Airport Director Brad Hagen said he was aware of the incident, but had no further information pending a full report from the FAA.

FMI: www.flyalo.com, www.faa.gov