FAA controller cover-ups alleged

WASHINGTON, July 14 (UPI) -- A federal investigator into complaints made by whistle-blowers says two air traffic controllers allege coverups of close calls between planes near Dallas.

Federal Aviation Administration managers have been blaming pilot error for close calls caused by controller mistakes, the controllers told U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch. Bloch said an increase in the number of pilot errors reported at Love Field in Dallas supports their story, The Washington Post reported.

The coverups could mean that faulty procedures are not being corrected.

"This cuts to the core of air traffic safety and why you have air regulations that controllers are supposed to observe," Bloch said.

Robert Sturgell, a deputy administrator with the FAA, said the problem, if it exists, is limited, since the number of controller errors nationally has only dropped slightly recently.