Nothing wrong with operations: Skyguide
Jul 29, 2002 | 10:38 pm
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Nothing wrong with operations: Skyguide
http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/s...52710,00.html?
Business Times - 30 Jul 2002
Nothing wrong with operations: Skyguide
Swiss air traffic control agency says it wants to expand despite recent tragic accident
(ZURICH) Skyguide, the Swiss air traffic control agency that tracked two jets that collided over southern Germany on July 1, said on Sunday there was 'nothing wrong' with its operations despite the tragic accident that claimed 71 lives.
'There's nothing wrong at Skyguide,' Franz Kellerhals, chairman of the Skyguide board and a lawyer, told the Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung.
He said his company had guided thousands of flights safely through Swiss air space since the accident.
He also said Skyguide - a privatised agency 98 per cent owned by the Swiss government - wanted to expand the area under its control, amid attempts in Europe to set up a unified air traffic control area.
But in his first public statement since the collision near Ueberlingen on Lake Constance, Mr Kellerhals acknowledged that Skyguide had a staff shortage and that there had been 'breakdowns' in its communications policy.
After the mid-air collision between a Russian airliner and a Boeing cargo plane in Skyguide-controlled airspace, air accident investigators found that the ground controller was left on his own at the time of the accident.
A warning system had also been shut off for maintenance, and most of the telephone lines were down.
Skyguide 'is a well-ordered operation,' Mr Kellerhals said. 'That this accident should have happened is tragic,' he added.
'Nonetheless, we do have a shortage of ground controllers - like all other European air traffic control bodies,' Mr Kellerhals said.
He said the agency wanted more air traffic controllers 'if only we could find them', adding that he wanted to expand the area under his company's control.
'At the moment the areas that Skyguide can oversee are too small,' he said.
'Skyguide must be able to control more and larger areas even beyond national borders. That way it can make a contribution to increased safety in the skies.'
Under agreements with Berlin and Paris, Skyguide already controls airspace over parts of southern Germany and eastern France which are close to Swiss airports at Basel and Zurich.
Swiss civil aviation authorities have ordered the agency to ensure that more than one controller is on duty at any time, and to boost back-up measures. Skyguide has also limited the amount of traffic passing through its airspace.
Mr Kellerhals welcomed an evaluation of Swiss civil aviation standards ordered by Transport Minister Moritz Leuenberger. The German-led air accident investigation into the crash is still under way. - AFP
Copyright 2002 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
Business Times - 30 Jul 2002
Nothing wrong with operations: Skyguide
Swiss air traffic control agency says it wants to expand despite recent tragic accident
(ZURICH) Skyguide, the Swiss air traffic control agency that tracked two jets that collided over southern Germany on July 1, said on Sunday there was 'nothing wrong' with its operations despite the tragic accident that claimed 71 lives.
'There's nothing wrong at Skyguide,' Franz Kellerhals, chairman of the Skyguide board and a lawyer, told the Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung.
He said his company had guided thousands of flights safely through Swiss air space since the accident.
He also said Skyguide - a privatised agency 98 per cent owned by the Swiss government - wanted to expand the area under its control, amid attempts in Europe to set up a unified air traffic control area.
But in his first public statement since the collision near Ueberlingen on Lake Constance, Mr Kellerhals acknowledged that Skyguide had a staff shortage and that there had been 'breakdowns' in its communications policy.
After the mid-air collision between a Russian airliner and a Boeing cargo plane in Skyguide-controlled airspace, air accident investigators found that the ground controller was left on his own at the time of the accident.
A warning system had also been shut off for maintenance, and most of the telephone lines were down.
Skyguide 'is a well-ordered operation,' Mr Kellerhals said. 'That this accident should have happened is tragic,' he added.
'Nonetheless, we do have a shortage of ground controllers - like all other European air traffic control bodies,' Mr Kellerhals said.
He said the agency wanted more air traffic controllers 'if only we could find them', adding that he wanted to expand the area under his company's control.
'At the moment the areas that Skyguide can oversee are too small,' he said.
'Skyguide must be able to control more and larger areas even beyond national borders. That way it can make a contribution to increased safety in the skies.'
Under agreements with Berlin and Paris, Skyguide already controls airspace over parts of southern Germany and eastern France which are close to Swiss airports at Basel and Zurich.
Swiss civil aviation authorities have ordered the agency to ensure that more than one controller is on duty at any time, and to boost back-up measures. Skyguide has also limited the amount of traffic passing through its airspace.
Mr Kellerhals welcomed an evaluation of Swiss civil aviation standards ordered by Transport Minister Moritz Leuenberger. The German-led air accident investigation into the crash is still under way. - AFP
Copyright 2002 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
