CHICAGO, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Transportation is investigating an increase in in-flight incursions after a rash of near-hit incidents at Chicago area airports.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., asked the inspector general of USDOT to launch an investigation to probe a spate of in-flight incursions at Chicago's O'Hare International and Midway Airport, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday.
Durbin expressed special concern regarding reports of tired and overworked air-traffic controllers at the Chicago airports as well as the Federal Aviation Administration radar facility in Elgin, Ill.
A Southwest Airlines flight bound for Midway Airport Wednesday came within 300 vertical feet of a private jet when a controller-in-training directed the jet to descend.
The trainee's supervisor prevented the collision by ordering the Southwest pilots to increase their speed of descent. An onboard collision-avoidance system sounded as well.
"It would have been a crossing blow by the Southwest plane, a true T-bone accident," Jeffrey Richards, president the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said in the newspaper.
The federal investigation begins in January.
