[NY.SS-Bar9]

was caused by an air traffic controller talking on his phone about a dead cat

Bulls....

The accident was caused by pilots in uncontrolled airspace failing to avoid each other.

It may have been prevented by an alert controller.

[Tigerized]

“The accident was caused by pilots in uncontrolled airspace failing to avoid each other.”

Bingo! Spot on! A contributing factor may have been the controller’s inattention.

You can never successfully delegate away responsibility for personal safety for long. It always catches up with you. Especially in mid-air.

And now I have yet another reason to dislike cats.

[50mm]

I checked and you are correct. The collision happened at 1100 ft. The controller could have warned them as they were in communication.

[Red Badger]

DING! DING! DING! WE HAVE A WINNAH!................

[FourPeas]

I thought the same thing before I read the article. Because Altman asked to be advised of potential traffic conflicts, then the botched hand-off, the controller not catching the bad read-back, and the difficulty in the pilots ability to view and avoid traffic, it seems like it’s not just one “little” controller error, but a series of the controller not paying attention to his/her job.

Of course, as mentioned in the article, ultimately the responsibility lies with each pilot to avoid. ATC’s supposed to be there to assist pilots, though, not take personal phone calls.

[FourPeas]

I thought the same thing before I read the article. Because Altman asked to be advised of potential traffic conflicts, then the botched hand-off, the controller not catching the bad read-back, and the difficulty in the pilots ability to view and avoid traffic, it seems like it’s not just one “little” controller error, but a series of the controller not paying attention to his/her job.

Of course, as mentioned in the article, ultimately the responsibility lies with each pilot to avoid. ATC’s supposed to be there to assist pilots, though, not take personal phone calls.

[FourPeas]

Sorry for the double post.

[Texan Tory]

The pilots are no longer here to be blamed, so the primary focus of the blame naturally falls upon the one living person who seemingly could have prevented the tragedy if he hadn’t been distracted. It’s hard for me not to actually feel very sorry for him, as it would be such a terrible thing to wake up every morning with the knowledge that your negligence likely contributed to the death of nine people.