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Apr 26, 2008 1:20 pm US/Central
Whistleblower Speaks With CBS 11
The Air Traffic Controller who blew the whistle on cover-ups at DFW Airport is speaking out.
Anne Whiteman sat down with CBS 11 In her first interview since the FAA acknowledged the cover ups were intentional.
She has battled the FAA over public safety for ten years now. All along she says she's been afraid for her job and her own safety.
"The way I am ostracized, I wouldn't wish on anyone." Whiteman told CBS 11.
Ever since Anne Whiteman became a whistleblower and first reported cover-ups of air traffic controller mistakes at DFW, she says she's faced verbal and physical harassment.
"There was one controller in particular who would walk in the hallway and knock me to the ground if no one was around."
Whiteman has claimed for years that air traffic controllers at DFW Terminal Radar Approach Control, TRACON, committed operational errors, allowing planes to get too close to one another, but blamed pilots for the mistakes.
She said, "I wonder if any pilots ever lost their jobs because of this."
After investigating the allegations, the department of transportation's inspector general found between November, 2005 and July, 2007, DFW TRACON managers misclassified 52 controller operational errors as pilot deviations. Fifteen of them were considered serious. Whiteman said, "Somebody at the top had to know."
The FAA promised to fix the problem in 2005, but nothing changed. On Thursday Whiteman says she received a call from the FAA's acting administrator, Robert Sturgis.
"The phone call caught me completely off guard. He called to say thank you, and that was a first." The FAA is again promising to make changes.
But Whiteman is not impressed. "I hope and pray they're telling the truth, but I have serious doubts."
Whiteman says the FAA transferred her to another job against her wishes. Aside from the harassment, she says she has also received silent support from some co-workers.
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