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Eau Claire (WQOW) – As of Monday night, an Eau Claire woman and the plane she was on are still missing. The small plane was supposed to land at Eau Claire's Heartland Aviation Sunday.
The pass angers and pilot were coming from Florida. WQOW News 18 was told the plane was last seen on radar in a remote area of Missouri. After searching 16-hundred square miles from the air and ground Monday, the Civil Air Patrol called of the search for the night. Weather permitting, efforts will resume Tuesday morning.
One aviation officials says search efforts will continue until, "the air force tells us to stop looking".
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Eau Claire (WQOW) - The search is on for a missing plane, with a local woman on board. The Eau Claire woman, along with the pilot and his wife, who are from Southern Wisconsin, were due at the Eau Claire airport early Sunday morning.
They were coming from Florida, and officials say the plane was last seen on radar in a remote area of Missouri. That's where the Civil Air Patrol has search planes and ground teams canvassing the area for any signs of the seven-passenger plane.
WQOW News 18 spoke with the daughter of the Eau Claire woman Monday. She didn't want us to identify her, or her mother. She tells us her mother is a businesswoman, who went down to Florida to look at some land and a plane that were for sale.
Like the little sister who has grown taller than her older siblings, Bombardier's 100-seat CRJ1000 NextGen regional jet is both the latest and biggest member of the CRJ series, but retains many of the physical characteristics of its relatives.
At a length of 39.1m (128ft), the CRJ1000 represents a 2.9m stretch of the CRJ900 and features a 7.5% trailing-edge extension over its 88-seat predecessor, a 0.66m wing-tip extension, reinforced landing gear and carbon, instead of steel, brakes.
This is Bombardier's last exercise in elongating the CRJ, which began life in 1989 when the Canadian airframer stretched its Challenger business jet to produce the General Electric CF34-powered CRJ100.
With an upgrade to a more efficient version of the CF34 engine, the 50-seater graduated to the CRJ200 and quickly became a regional airline workhorse that helped to form the backbone of the hub-and-spoke system in the USA. No longer produced for the commercial market, the CRJ200 spawned the 70-seat CRJ700 and the CRJ900.
In developing the new CRJ1000 around the 2007 timeframe, Bombardier opted to introduce an all-new "NextGen" cabin, with bigger passenger windows, overhead bins modified to store more luggage and LED lighting to brighten the cabin and highlight a new sidewall and ceiling-panel design. The NextGen's distinctive cabin features were then incorporated into the CRJ700 and CRJ900.
All three aircraft share CF34-8C5 powerplant commonality, although the CRJ1000 has, as basic, a normal take-off +2% to supply 13,630lb of thrust (60kN) with an optional +5% (see engine chart).
"The family concept is something that is also driving all of our design. We're evolving the design, we're not redoing it," says Jean-Guy Blondin, Bombardier CRJ programmes director.
With the CRJ1000 - which, like its sisters, is equipped with Rockwell Collins Pro Line 4 integrated cockpit avionics - Bombardier was "able to maintain the same type rating for pilots and the same maintenance training course" as the other CRJs, Blondin notes. "There are a few differences, but it's very, very simple to migrate to the new airplane if you're already a certified mechanic or a certified pilot. There is very little learning required. So that also helps airlines introduce a new type in their fleet and reduce their costs," he adds.
That is not to say the Canadian airframer has not made changes and improvements with the latest member of the CRJ family. "We've taken the opportunity of developing the CRJ1000 to bring a few new technologies into the aircraft," Blondin says.
Most notably, instead of the hydro-mechanical rudder system found on the CRJ700/900, a control-by-wire system has been selected for the CRJ1000. The system, supplied by Germany's Liebherr Aerospace, was the subject of a software glitch in 2009, which delayed certification of the aircraft. However, Bombardier fixed the issue and the aircraft entered service in December 2010 with launch customer Air Nostrum and Air France subsidiary Brit Air.
"We learned a few things with our command-by-wire system on the CRJ1000," Gary Scott, president of Bombardier Commercial Aircraft, says. "The bottom line is we had some software challenges and so you learn about writing software and how the different [software] programs relate to one another."
Since the CRJ1000 entered service it had been "delivering on all fronts," Blondin adds.
Air Nostrum, a regional affiliate to Iberia, agrees with Bombardier's assessment, telling Flight International: "Management is very pleased with the performance to date, recognising the aircraft have accumulated very little hours yet. Same applies to the economics - so far so good. The reliability is very high and no relevant snags have been detected."
DELAY
The carrier admits the delay had a negative impact on its plans "but we have managed to minimise it together with Bombardier. We are replacing 50-seaters with the CRJ1000 as it has much better cost per seat, so we can better compete in our low-yield environment."
Bombardier is considering modifying the hydro-mechanical rudder system in the CRJ700 and CRJ900 to the control-by-wire system used in the CRJ1000. Blondin notes that what has been learned while implementing the CRJ1000 will help reduce technical risk on the airframer's all-new, 110- to 130-seat Pratt & Whitney-geared turbofan-powered CSeries, which "will be a fully three-axis" fly-by-wire-controlled aircraft.
Another new feature for the CRJ1000, he says, is the CMC Electronics-provided dual electronic flight bag systems. Blondin says: "It's a Class 2 EFB that is mounted on each side of the cockpit, but removable. We've also developed an aircraft performance package that, if [operators] elect, they could load on to the computer and they can do aircraft performance calculations quicker and with more precision than having to look at quick reference books and pages of data."
On the flightdeck, the CRJ1000 boasts LCD screens for the newest configuration of the flight management system and digital radios. Coupled vertical navigation is deployed as part of the CRJ1000 programme and is now available as an optional feature on the CRJ700 and CRJ900.
"We've been working a lot on the FMS capability and also on lateral navigation precision, but we are still working on the vertical aspect of the flightpath," Blondin says.
"More and more today in the airspace environment, accurate guidance of the airplane in following a lateral track - but also vertical guidance to precise crossing altitudes waypoints - becomes extremely critical.
"In other words, you have both a left/right deviation as well as a higher or lower deviation, where the aircraft can accurately be at any point in that three-dimensional spectrum. The air traffic controllers will issue a clearance and command: 'We want you at that waypoint place at 5,000ft', then the FMS system and auto pilot guides the airplane and takes you to exactly that point at 5,000ft, fully automated.
"So the fact that you have more precision now in the newer-generation airplanes in your ability to properly place your aircraft in space, has allowed air traffic to reduce spacing and increase capacity into and out of airports," Blondin says.
Bombardier CRJ1000 GA
An option for the CRJ1000, and also now for the CRJ900 and CRJ700, is the wide area augmentation system (WAAS) and localiser performance with vertical guidance (LPV) solution for precision approach navigation.
"By doing a WAAS-based system you increase the accuracy of the lateral and vertical navigation capability of the airplane," Blondin says. "This allows us to certify LPV approaches, which enables instrument landing system-like approaches in an airport. So we are recreating the same capability in the airplane using the satellites as you had with the ground-based systems. In effect, working with the Federal Aviation Administration guidelines for the next-gen [air traffic control] system, which will be much more dependent on satellite-based navigation than on the ground-based equipment.
"So as you can see, we're evolving the platform to be able to handle any of the new navigation capabilities that are being developed.
"The other thing we've done as an option for the CRJ1000, which we had already done on the CRJ700/900, is the head-up guidance system with Cat IIIa capability. It's being certified as we speak," Blondin adds.
CONFIGURATIONS
Apart from the now standard NextGen cabin features offered across the CRJ700/900/1000 line, the CRJ1000 is available in single- and dual-class configuration, with a 31in (79cm) pitch for seats in economy class.
Seats manufactured by C&D Zodiac and B/E Aerospace are offered line-fit on the CRJ1000. "It's a customer's selection," Blondin says, confirming that if a carrier wants a seat outside the catalogue it must do so via retrofit. In-flight entertainment is an optional feature for the CRJ1000. "It's an individually mounted, seat-back TV screen with audio/video on demand," Blondin says.
Bombardier CRJ1000 cutaway
Click for full size image
In the future, Bombardier expects to offer in-flight wi-fi on its CRJs. "Being able to access the internet from your own device, in our view, seems to be much more in demand than just watching TV or reruns. I think that's where the future is at, because people can stay connected to the office using their computer or they can surf the internet and do what they want. So the internet approach offers a lot more value to the public," Blondin says.
Bombardier operates a single, standardised manufacturing line for the CRJ700, CRJ900 and CRJ1000 at its Mirabel facility outside Montreal, with a 66-day production cycle from join to customer delivery. "We can build any number of CRJ700s, CRJ900s and CRJ1000s in any quantity the customer may want, " Blondin says.
The CRJ1000 has attracted 49 orders - 35 from Air Nostrum and 15 from Brit Air - and Bombardier is optimistic it will secure more orders for the type. The aircraft offers "between 5% and 7% lower direct operating cost than competing jets," alongside the "enhanced comfort of the NextGen cabin and a reduced environmental impact with low fuel burn", Blondin says, adding that the manufacturer is having "good discussions" about CRJ1000 orders.
Blondin says the 49 orders makes it the airframer's most successful launch. However, pilot scope clause constraints in the USA have made it difficult for Bombardier to break the CRJ1000 into the US market.
"We saw this as the final edition, the final piece to our CRJ family," Scott says. "The market segment for it is several hundred, so it's more of a niche airplane. Obviously it doesn't work well in the United States because of the scope limitations, but it does work well in Europe and in other parts of the world, so we're optimistic," he adds.
Roger Cohen, president of US regional airline lobbying group the Regional Airline Association, also expresses confidence that the CRJ1000 will eventually take to US skies.
"[These days] it's hard to describe what's a regional airline, what's not a regional airline [and] what's a mainline aircraft," he says. "Those lines, if they were ever in existence before, have been blurred, if not obliterated, and it continuously changes."
WASHINGTON - Rep. Chip Cravaack, R-Minn., called on the Obama administration Friday to block the pending sale of a Duluth aircraft company to a Chinese company until it can prove that the sale will not hurt national security or cost hundreds of Minnesotans their jobs.
In a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Cravaack said he is "gravely concerned" about the sale of Cirrus Aircraft to China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co., which is controlled by the state-owned Aviation Industry Corp. of China.
The Eighth District congressman said the sale could "compromise America's national security."
Geithner heads a committee that oversees foreign investment in the United States.
"Aside from the multiple national security concerns, there are hundreds of American families that would lose their livelihood if this acquisition is allowed to proceed," Cravaack told Geithner in his letter.
The charges brought a pointed response from Cirrus Chief Executive Brent Wouters: "Their facts are wrong."
Wouters disputed Cravaack's contention that the sale would cost Minnesotans jobs and said Cirrus, whose sales have been falling, must sell its business for financial reasons.
"I called the congressman privately before we announced the sale and assured him we wouldn't lose jobs [if the sale went through]," Wouters said. "The facilities that build these planes are FAA-certified. They can't move."
Cravaack, citing an online report in an aviation trade journal, said an American investment group is interested in making an offer to buy Cirrus.
Wouters also disputed that. "There is no other bidder," said Wouters, whose company had $200 million in sales last year.
Then Wouters issued a warning of his own about the loss of hundreds of Minnesota jobs: "If this transaction doesn't happen, the alternatives for jobs will be far worse in Duluth and Grand Forks," where Cirrus has facilities. "It will extend to suppliers as well."
Cravaack's security concerns surround the possible military application of a carbon composite material Cirrus uses on its aircraft, the engine it uses to run it and a small rocket that propels an emergency parachute designed to stop crashes of Cirrus aircraft in emergencies.
In his letter to Geithner, Cravaack, a former Navy pilot who serves on the House Homeland Security Committee, said the carbon composite could be adapted into the skin of high-altitude surveillance drones that gather military intelligence. He said the engines could be adapted for use in cruise missiles and surveillance drones.
Wouters said the composite is not adaptable to military use because it cannot withstand heat generated in military use. He said the engine, which is produced by a company in Detroit, not by Cirrus, is already available in China. Cirrus planned all along to divest itself of the rocket technology before the sale because the sale of such technology to a foreign country is prohibited, Wouters said.
"I can understand where Cirrus is coming from," Cravaack said, "but you also have to understand that the China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Company basically is the hand in the glove of the China state-run defense contractors. They use a lot of our technology and basically redesign it and use it for their own purposes.
"All I'm saying is we need to proceed slowly and cautiously before we allow any of our technology to go overseas," Cravaack said.
Upset by the growing costs, frustrations and complications of the US air-travel security apparatus, the US Travel Association (USTA) has issued a major report insisting that there ``can, and must'' be a better way of doing so.
Entitled exactly that, A Better Way: Building a World-Class System for Aviation Security, the report calls for the replacement of a one-size-fits-all security screening system at US airports with a tailor-made ``fast-track'' system that will be based on ``risk assessment'' and allow the overwhelmingly vast majority of low-risk travellers to clear security quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively.
Indirectly, the report is a damning indictment of the plethora of inconsistent rules and regulations, duplication of standards and constant adding of tools and technologies that have simply been ``layered'' on top of each other in the 10 years since the 9/11 attacks.
The USTA report says: ``The current aviation security system is discouraging Americans from flying and contributing to a decline in productivity among those who choose to fly.
``According to a 2010 survey conducted by Consensus Research, American travellers would take an additional two to three flights per year if the hassles in security screening system were eliminated.
``These additional flights would add nearly $85 billion in consumer spending and 900,000 jobs to the American economy.''
The report quotes the same research as noting that a large majority of Americans consider today's security screening system to be ``inconsistent,'' ``stressful'' and ``embarrassing.''
The report says: ``When discussing traveller frustrations, two-thirds of air travellers (66%) believed air travel security was a complicated problem and were frustrated by what they view to be heavy-handed procedures at airport checkpoints.
``The survey also found that travellers' frustration with the system was not limited to just one or two security measures but include a whole range of issues.''
Adds the report, ``The President of the United States acknowledged the challenges with today's system when he joked in the 2011 State of the Union address that we should support high-speed rail as an alternative to flying because, `it will be faster than flying-without the pat-down'.''
It says: ``Unfortunately, our aviation system is not a symphony of tools and technologies playing in harmony and efficiently moving passengers through security, but instead a cacophony of disjointed parts that are not built to systematically manage risk in the best way possible.
``Because of the lack of analytical tools and risk management metrics, as well as general public acceptance that there is risk inherent in air travel (as there is with every other mode of travel), new technologies, solutions or tools are often deployed by TSA only in reaction to public events and political pressure.''
According to the report, ``Is today's security screening system the most cost effective and efficient that the United States can possibly produce? No. The country that put a man on the moon, invented the Internet and creates daily innovations in manufacturing can and must do better.''
Its key recommendation is for the US Congress to authorise the TSA ``to implement a new, voluntary, government-run Trusted Traveller program that utilises a risk-based approach to checkpoint screening, with the goal of refocusing resources on the highest risk passengers.''
The report also suggests that the Department of Homeland Security ``should enable certain low-risk passengers who are travelling to another domestic airport to forego checked baggage and passenger screening upon landing in the US.''
It also calls for the DHS to ``expand access to international trusted traveller programmes for international passengers entering the US, as well as lead efforts to establish a multinational network of streamlined entry procedures for low-risk travellers.''
Says the report, ``One of the greatest challenges CBP and TSA face is identifying international travellers who may pose a threat, distinguishing them from the mass of the travelling public and subjecting them to additional scrutiny in a manner that facilitates the travel of other passengers.''
The report acknowledges that the absence of any successful attacks in the US since 9/11 can be construed as ``proof'' that all the existing security systems have worked.
However, it adds, ``as aviation security continues to evolve, the combination of new screening procedures, technologies, regulatory requirements, and evolving threats are putting increased strain on aviation stakeholders and the travelling public.
``Many are starting to question whether the current system strikes the proper balance between facilitating the movement of goods and people, and providing protection from the continued threat of terrorist attack.''
Nothwithstanding the temporary downturn in air travel caused by the recession, the FAA predicts that yearly passenger totals will grow from 713 million domestic and international passengers in FY 2010 to nearly 1.3 billion in FY 2031.
``In the next five years alone, FAA predicts that passenger levels will grow by an average of 3.7% per year, and continue to grow at an average of 2.5% from FY 2016 to FY 2031.
``With such steep rises in passenger levels, TSA will be hard pressed to control the growth of its budget, wait times at security checkpoints will increase, and the burdens of the current system will slow economic recovery unless Congress and TSA develop a long-term, risk based strategy to focus assets and resources at the highest priority threats,'' the report says.
Although the general economic outlook is still murky, one corner of the market - business travel - bodes well for the immediate future. According to International Business Times and the Global Business Travel Association, business travel increased in 2010 and is expected to grow up to 6.7% this year and another 6.9% in 2012. Companies that address this growth in a creative way will be in the enviable position of adding to their own bottom line while further supporting the economic recovery on a number of levels.
Traditionally, Fortune 500 companies have had to spend a lot of money up-front on acquisition costs with long-term contracts and maintenance fees for their top executives to travel on private aircraft rather than commercial flights, with the operator providing little service beyond ferrying them from point A to point B.
A new executive charter company, Skynet Aviation Group, offers a fresh take on the corporate travel experience, and is positioned to take advantage of the growth in business travel by providing service, access and value beyond the basics. Paul Levine and Benjamin Head, managing directors, created a new kind of charter service based on the personal touch - what they like to call "white glove and red carpet" customer care. "High-level executives use private aviation because it saves time and money," notes Levine. "But until now, they've had no alternative to paying up-front for contracts and indifferent treatment. We offer the flexibility of 'on-demand' service with no monthly maintenance or long-term commitment fees, plus personal concierge service that they can't find anywhere else."
Although Skynet Aviation Group is a new company, both Head and Levine have years of experience in the industry and know their market well. "Business needs private aviation to thrive," says Head. "Executives and CEO's spend a lot of hours in the air, and we wanted to give them an experience that offers the whole package; safety, flexibility and global access along with a personal travel concierge that allows our clients to focus on business while we focus on all of the details of their trip." Each client has one Skynet Aviation Group contact who personally manages every leg of the trip, ensuring VIP treatment from door-to-door and keeping the client's home office appraised of his progress with an exclusive "flight following" program.
Leveraging their combined experience and contacts, Head and Levine developed the largest fleet of luxury charter aircraft in the U.S., Europe, Caribbean and South America, and implemented a rigorous safety program, recognized as one of the industry's finest. Their unique take on the business extends to their approach to marketing. Instead of the traditional print and media campaign they connect directly with Fortune 500 clients by participating in business conferences, summits and ultra high-end luxury events. Says Head, "We are using our marketing budget to put us face to face with the people who can afford and need to use our services." This efficient and effective strategy includes sponsorship of the recent Boat International Mega Superyacht Regatta & Rendezvous in the British Virgin Islands. In addition, Skynet Aviation Group is the exclusive aviation sponsor of the Institutional Investor Hedge Fund Conference in Bermuda later this spring (May 1 - 3), providing delegates and attendees unrestricted access to Skynet Aviation Group's global fleet of aircraft.
Thinking outside the business travel box is paying off. In their first year of business, Head and Levine are projecting four to five million dollars in revenue, with referrals from corporate clients (90% of their business base) accounting for a large part of the growth. It's clear that personal service and a true VIP experience are striking a chord in the corporate travel world, a fact that surprises no one at Skynet Aviation Group. "Our brand equity is in our clients," says Levine. "We just know we're positioned to be successful."
Consumer protection for airline passengers, funding for airport improvements and the efficiency of the nation's air-traffic system are among the issues at stake in wide-ranging legislation moving through Congress.
Separate versions of the legislation in the House of Representatives and Senate contain many provisions that could affect fliers.
Among them: provisions that would write into law passenger protections from lengthy delays on the tarmac; cuts in federal subsidies to airlines for flying into rural airports; and more options for people who want to fly non-stop from the West Coast to Washington, D.C.
The bills also could have sweeping implications for the efficiency of air travel. They contain several provisions that would push the Federal Aviation Administration to speed up the introduction of new technology that promises to make flights flow more smoothly.
The legislation, which sets guidelines for the FAA, expired in 2007. Attempts to update policies for the agency that oversees flight have been blocked since then, most often by fights over labor issues. Leaders in the House and Senate have vowed to move the legislation this year, although bills in the two chambers differ significantly.
The Senate passed its version of the bill in February. The House bill has been approved by the transportation committee and could come up in the full chamber as early as this week. If the House bill passes, the differences would be worked out in a conference committee.
Highlights:
•Consumer protection. Following a federal rule enacted last year, the Senate's bill would require airlines to return aircraft to the gate if a flight is delayed on the tarmac for more than three hours. It also says airports must develop plans for dealing with such lengthy delays. Writing the protection into law makes the protection harder to overturn.
The Senate bill would create criminal penalties for airport security screeners who distribute images created by body scanners, which peer through clothing in search of weapons or explosives. The Transportation Security Administration, which oversees aviation security, prohibits copying or distributing the images.
Noting that more airlines are charging passengers for checked bags, the House bill would require a study of the feasibility of requiring airlines to compensate passengers for bags that arrive late.
•Airport construction. Spurred by the election of dozens of fiscally conservative new members, the House version would cut funding on several fronts, including grants to airports for runway maintenance, safety enhancements and security. The proposal would cut funding to $3 billion a year, a 14% decrease from the $3.5 billion in place since 2006.
Airports believe that the cuts would reduce their ability to keep up with future capacity demands, says Greg Principato, president of the Airports Council International. The Senate would increase funding to $4 billion a year for airport projects.
•FAA spending. The House also wants to cut FAA spending to 2008 levels, saving $4 billion over four years, a roughly 7% reduction. House Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica, R-Fla., says the agency could cut that money without jeopardizing air safety or the ongoing program to modernize the air-traffic system over the next decade.
FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt says uncertainty about FAA funding already has prompted the agency to pause in its efforts to certify new aviation technology and could even slow the opening of aircraft manufacturer plants, thereby reducing jobs.
The Senate supports giving the FAA $17.5 billion this year, a 16% increase over the House.
•Rural flights. The House would end federal subsidies to airlines that fly to rural airports that otherwise would not have commercial service. Airports in Alaska and Hawaii would still be eligible for federal subsidies.
The Senate would keep the program, nearly doubling the funding to $200 million. Senate commerce committee Chairman John Rockefeller, D-W.Va., whose state relies on the flights, vows to keep the subsidy.
•Non-stop to D.C. Fliers who want to fly non-stop to Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C., would get more flights. The airport currently has a cap restricting long-distance flights.
The House bill would add 10 new non-stops to or from the West Coast, and the Senate would add 16.
•Air-traffic modernization. Both bills would set timetables and goals for the FAA to improve the efficiency of flight routes. The effort is linked to the FAA program known as NextGen that will introduce more accurate, satellite-based technology to guide jets in future decades.
The legislation calls on the FAA to add highly accurate satellite-guided routes into large commercial airports in the next few years, which will trim airline fuel costs and can also reduce delays.
The Senate would force airlines to equip jets with technology required in the modernization plan sooner than under current FAA guidelines.
•Cockpit distractions. Both bills would outlaw use of cellphones, laptops and other personal electronic devices by pilots for non-work purposes on the flight deck of an airliner. The proposals were prompted by a Northwest Airlines flight that flew past its destination on Oct. 21, 2009, while the pilots were working on their company-issued laptops.
ABC 6 NEWS) � A scary situation in the sky. As not one but two planes land at Reagan National Airport in Washington DC with no one guiding them in.
Now, an investigation into why, shows the air traffic controller that should have been there was asleep on the job.
That incident has prompted a nation-wide investigation by the federal aviation administration, looking into airport tower staffing issues.
So it may surprise you, here at home, there are many times no one is manning air traffic.
Around eleven o'clock the f-a-a controller that's up in the tower at the Rochester airport goes off duty. No one will replace that person until 5 in the morning. Meaning, no one will be working for about six hours.
But airport officials say don't worry, its all part of the plan.
Overnight it's quite inside the control tower at the Rochester International Airport. That's because crews here, like at many smaller airports, have worked out a system.
"It's a pretty standard operation, I suppose, they have staff that come in, mans it for the hours they're supposed to be there and they go home," says airport manager Kurt Claussen.
But Claussen says when no one's manning the tower, pilots know what to do.
"They broadcast their position and tell other aircraft their intention we really don't have a lot of air traffic at night. The five am to 11 pm. covers all of our scheduled air carrier service, all of our cargo service," Claussen says.
And in the assistant manager's 20 years here he's never seen any problems that even come close to the one at the Reagan National Airport.
"I was pretty surprised," says Claussen.
So were some passengers, like Kristina Neal, who are now thinking a little more about procedures.
"It makes you a little nervous that there seems like there should be some type of stop gap or something type of oversight over whether people are sleeping or not, But yea, especially at bigger airports, you expect there to be safety measures for that,� says Neal.
But FAA officials assure folks they're taking action.
"This incident has given us cause to take a good look at this and we're going to review this," says the FAA's Randy Babbitt.
Investigations aside....
"I'm confident and comfortable with their ability to manage their jobs and do what they need to do," says Claussen.
As for the number of flights that come into this airport every night, there's only one or two in the span of those six or so hours.
To put that into perspective for you, we're told in airports where controllers work around the clock will get at least that many flights every hour.
