Possible air control errors investigated

CHICAGO, June 26 (UPI) -- Federal Aviation Administration officials confirm an investigation into a possible coverup of control errors at a Chicago-area radar facility is under way.

The inquiry focuses on whether supervisors at the FAA radar facility in Elgin, Ill., underreported air-safety violations by controllers, the U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general's office said.

Investigators want to know whether the controller errors were instead blamed on pilots or simply ignored, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The controller errors under investigation involved failures to maintain the required spacing between airplanes taking off or landing at O'Hare International Airport, Midway Airport and smaller area facilities.