Much news hysteria has come of the "near miss" between three US Airways planes in the vicinity of Reagan National Airport in DC last week. But the truth is a lot more complicated than the hype.
Without getting deeply into the FAA's Air Traffic Control policy,(and way beyond my pay grade) suffice it to say that the required Instrument Flight Rules separation of three miles laterally and 1000 feet horizontally IS NOT REQUIRED if either one of the aircraft has the other one in sight. Once you understand that key point, there is no story here. This is the biggest ATC non-story since an aircraft carrying Michelle Obama had to perform a go around last year.
Did Air Traffic Control violate established procedures or fail to communicate when these aircraft came too close? Maybe. But notwithstanding all the gotcha stories about sleeping controllers, etc. it is extremely hard to find an unprofessional or clueless controller out there in the real world. They are highly trained, highly professional, highly standardized, and very good at what they do.
Aviation is dangerous, human error is always a threat, and it pays to keep your head on a swivel. But not in this case. More than likely the investigation will find as the Administrator has already stated... "they were not on a collision course".
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