WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- The U.S. Government Accountability Office questions whether an increase in errors by air traffic controllers is related to a new reporting system.
The GAO said FAA statistics show controller errors over the past three years have increased 53 percent within about 5 miles of an airport and 166 percent within 40 miles of an airport, CNN reported Friday.
While the increase may partially be related to new, non-punitive reporting system instituted in 2009 that encourages controllers to report errors, the GAO report says the new system might actually be hiding incidents not covered under current reporting procedures.
"FAA oversight in the terminal area is currently limited to certain types of incidents, notably runway incursions and certain airborne incidents, and does not include runway overruns or incidents in ramp areas," the GAO report said. "Further, changes to reporting processes and procedures make it difficult to assess safety trends, and existing data may not be readily available to decision-makers, including those at the regional and local levels."
The GAO recommends aviation officials extend oversight of terminal-area safety to include runway overruns and ramp areas, develop risk-based measures for runway safety incidents and improve information sharing about incidents.
