@ Willow Run 6-3 :
I disagree that the need to focus on fixing the system, and all that doing so will involve, means that nothing more needs to be addressed with regard to the individual ATCO involved in the Austin incident. The performance record of a given individual controller certainly is material and relevant to assessing, from the incident which occurred, changes at the system level that need to be made.
We basically say the same thing using different logic and words. Yes the reasons that caused the situation in Austin needs to be adressed , lessons from it learned and measures taken to prevent this from happening again. But the controller involved did not woke up in the morning saying : i am going to make an incident today . he has been selected for this job, trained and supervised, Why this apparently failed has to be anlaysed. That said he was not alone in this cock-up, the Southwest crew actions also need to be looked into and so does the Fedex to a lesser extend, more people contributed to this incident. The NTSB report will be very interesting to read I am sure. Werthere the FAA ( and the airlines involved) will take on board all its recommendations is another story.
While "just culture" is important it does not remove accountability
Just Culture , or its new name " Safety Culture" does not apply after an incident or accident. It is there only for prevention , by basically removing accountability for individuals reporting their own incidents that would not have been reported otherwise, so that we learn from them to improve the system . It does not apply after an incident or accident.has occurred which is the case here .But the original principle of Just Culture as defined by Prof Sidney Dekker is that focusing on the operator rather than looking for systemic issues is a normal management reaction to protect themselves from accountabilty.
As for JFK and AA106, if NATCA issued a statement, I haven't yet located it.
My bad, I thought you were taking about NATCA, not APA . Did not see their statement. As a complete aside, while looking for it ( did not find it ) on their web site I see they are planning to go on strike with a 99% mandate..Interersting times..