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U.S. & World

Nov 19, 2007 11:35 am US/Central

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Tragedy Averted: 2 Planes Nearly Collide In Air

Marks 2nd Such Incident Over A Week In Same Radar Facility

CHICAGO (AP) ― Two small private planes veered dangerously close to each other this weekend because of miscommunication between air traffic controllers, marking the second serious error in less than a week for an area radar facility, officials said.

Authorities said the planes traveling over central Wisconsin came within 2.8 lateral miles and 500 vertical feet from each other Saturday. Federal regulations require at least 1,000 feet of vertical and least 5 miles of lateral separation.

One of the planes, a Cessna Caravan 208 turboprop, took off from Chicago's Midway Airport Saturday morning and was traveling to Leeward Farm, a private airport in Soldiers Grove, Wis.

The second plane, a Cirrus SR-22, was departing from the Tri-County Regional Airport near Lone Rock, Wis. when the near-miss occurred at about 3,800 feet.

Last week, an air traffic controller from the Federal Aviation Administration's Chicago Center radar facility in Aurora mistakenly directed a passenger plane to descend in the path of a jet heading to O'Hare International Airport. Those planes came within seconds of a mid-air collision over Indiana.

Saturday's controller mistake occurred marked the fourth serious error from the facility since October.

FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro downplayed a connection between the events and noted in a Monday statement that overall errors at the facility have been decreasing since 2003.

"Two errors in a week at a center does not define a problem. We need to look at it from the proper perspective," Molinaro earlier told the Chicago Tribune. "At Chicago Center, they handle about 3 million flights each year, so one or two controller errors in a week does occur."

Phone messages for Molinaro were left early Monday by The Associated Press.

Controllers union officials blame years of short staffing and fatigue for last week's errors, noting that Saturday's mistake occurred after a misunderstanding between air traffic controllers in Chicago and counterparts in Madison, Wis. about how much air space needed to be blocked off for the Cirrus as it took off.

Meanwhile, air traffic controllers switched the landing Cessna to an advisory channel and were unable to communicate with the pilot.

"We were not talking to either airplane," said Jeffrey Richards, president of the union at Chicago Center. "This was really a bad situation. At least over Indiana last week we were talking to both airplanes."

The FAA maintains control towers are adequately staffed. Molinaro said in his statement that federal officials are investigating Saturday's error.