But Doug Church, a spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said the three controllers in Westbury, N.Y., who observed the incident told him they saw the two planes converge from two blips to a single blip on their radar.
The planes “passed on top of each other ... There was nothing discernible in terms of any space,” Church said. “It sank the hearts of every one of them. It was something they had never seen in 70 combined years of experience.”
Speaking as both tower and radar controller, I wonder what the JFK tower controllers think of this gem? Aircraft passes nearly overhead another at the field following go-around and surprise, surprise the blips merge.
Who cares what the radar controllers thought? A radar blip can measure up to half a nautical mile wide depending on the range of the display.When these nasty situations happen, it's the tower controllers who have to resolve it by looking out the window. Been in the tower, done that.
Of course I don't want to take anything away from the seriousness of an incident like this, but that comment really makes me wonder...