Report: Air traffic controllers flew solo

WASHINGTON, March 21 (UPI) -- A report released in Washington said that air traffic control towers at small and medium-sized airports across the United States were regularly understaffed.

USA Today said the report from the U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general estimated that during a 1-year period, 11 percent of all overnight shifts were staffed by a single controller, a violation of federal aviation rules.

The practice became known after an Aug. 27 crash in Lexington, Ky., that killed 49 people. The plane taxied to a closed runway before dawn and tried to take off when there was only one controller on duty, USA Today reported.

"What this report makes clear is that the FAA must do a better job of implementing its policies," U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Ill., chairman of the House aviation subcommittee, said in USA Today.

The Federal Aviation Administration has improved staffing at the towers, an agency spokeswoman told the newspaper.