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Nov 14, 2008 3:44 pm US/Central
New Report Backs Up DFW Airport Whistleblower
Whistleblower Speaks Exclusively To CBS 11
Reporting
Jack Fink
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
North Texans flying out of DFW International Airport have been put at risk.
While travelers may not have been aware, some air traffic controllers were. A new report released Friday confirms Federal Aviation Administration officials covered up safety errors at DFW.
Click here to read the report.It's the final report by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Inspector General, and it backs up allegations Anne Whiteman, a DFW air traffic controller, first made in 1998.
The report finds air traffic controllers have allowed planes to get too close to one another and their FAA bosses looked the other way. In some cases, they blamed innocent pilots for the mistakes.
Whiteman spoke only to CBS 11's Jack Fink. She says she's been physically assaulted by some of her co-workers to try and shut her up. She has read the new report, and is praying they'll finally fix the problems after 10 years.
Whiteman says to this day, controllers are violating procedures.
"It's not a matter of whether there was some horrific near collision of two aircraft. It's a matter of the process was not followed," she said.
Whiteman became the first air traffic controller certified to work at DFW Airport in 1984. Her biggest fear is that the problems will be ignored.
"Something disastrous will happen as in, it's not being overly dramatic, two airplanes will collide. It will happen. We've been lucky so far," she said.
The report will now go to the White House. Whiteman hopes congress will hold hearings.
The Air Traffic Controller's Union of DFW was contacted about this story but has yet to return CBS 11's calls.
Stay with CBS11TV.com for details on the full report, which will be released Friday.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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