FOOTLOOSE AND…
On Nov. 8, 2016, the Federal Aviation Administration finally made certain that all closed airports are deleted from its maps that controllers use when directing air traffic. Whoopee!
Yes, believe it or not, prior to last year, closed airports still were shown on its maps. That was more than a year after an incident on Aug. 16, 2015, when a single-engine plane crashed when the pilot attempted to land his non-functioning aircraft after being directed by a controller to a non-existent landing strip that had been closed for some 25 years.
The FAA’s failure to keep its air traffic controller maps current was the major factor that the National Transportation Safety Board highlighted in a recent analysis of the crash. Sounds like a reasonable conclusion.
Now, an irreverent question: Which unmentioned executive takes the prize for this basic stupidity? Just asking.
