"You're having controllers working too long and too hard on position," said Mike Foote, a controller in the LAX tower and a spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. "This was all pilot error — you can't say it wasn't — but the fact is this didn't use to happen. People would catch it. We still do … but more frequently it's not being caught."
You know, LAX ATC are very good, just like other major busy airports in the States. But this kind of incident is a warning sign, and I think they have used up all the warnings in LAX. It is a broken system and it needs a fix. You can't just fix it by telling pilots and controllers to be "extra" carefull. What do you think we do? You think we are only mostly carefull unless the FAA says we should be more??
How about hiring some more ATC for Christ's sake. You have loads of useless TSAs standing arround. Why don't you fire half of them and use the money where it would be really appropriate; train and hire new controllers. I can understand a small little airport tower being understaffed (then again, look at LEX with Comair??) but LAX is a major international airport with lots of heavies with 300-400 people on board. This is the gateway airport for flights from Asia and the Pacific regions. It's not only embarrasing, but dangerous and scary as well.
I don't care what it is; stop bars, a system like DFW has, or simply modding the instructions like not letting someone cross only one runway. Or make everyone go to the end before crossing.
I know that LAX likes using the outers for landings because it allows simultaneous ops. I think the FAA should look at this and allow simultaneous ops to the inner runways. It might not make the criteria (runways too close), but I think the risk of pilots straying from their approach on short final are very rare. Most of us are well established on centerline from 5 miles in. Just stagger them a bit, or even separate by altitude till established on the loc, and that should help out lots. Then you can depart on the outers, avoiding the trap of landing aircraft crossing the takeoff runway.
Something needs to be done. I don't want LAX to out-do Tenerife someday. You only get a few close calls before something goes majorly wrong.
