Metro

NYC air-traffic controllers make two times more errors than average

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The figures are plane terrifying — especially for New York fliers.

Air-traffic controllers monitoring the Big Apple’s choked airspace rack up mistakes at more than twice the national rate, an exclusive Post analysis of government data found.

Controllers in the New York City area make one error per 40,000 flight operations, Federal Aviation Administration figures show. That’s more than double the national average of one error per 84,000 flight operations.

It also is a higher rate than their counterparts in other big cities. For example, Atlanta controllers err in one out of 56,000 operations, while Chicago controllers make mistakes in one out of every 53,000 operations.

And, clearly, one air-control mistake can jeopardize many lives.

A Teterboro air controller distracted by a personal phone call has been partly blamed for the midair collision of a single-engine plane and a tourist helicopter over the Hudson River in August 2009. All nine people aboard the two aircraft were killed.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators also suspect that New York controllers erred in a Jan. 20 scare in which an American Airlines jet bound for Brazil was sent on a near-collision course with two military cargo planes 100 miles off the New Jersey shore.

In addition, NTSB investigators are studying the possibility of mistakes by Teterboro Airport controllers that led to a double near-miss over the airport on Oct. 20 in which one private jet nearly collided with two others.

The figures take into account three groups of New York-area controllers: those in the airport towers, those who handle flights a little further out as they approach and depart the airports, and those who oversee planes at high altitudes in the region.

Most of the errors in New York City’s skies are made by controllers in the second category. They make mistakes in one of every 19,000 flights.

As for tower controllers, Newark’s rate the worst among the region’s three big airports, averaging one error out of every 28,000 flights. They are followed by Kennedy, with one mistake for every 49,000 flights, and La Guardia, with one mistake per 282,000 flights.

Overall, Kennedy controllers handle the most flight operations: an average of 1,292 daily. They are followed by Newark, with 1,168, and La Guardia, with 1,164.

Meanwhile, Westchester controllers erred only once, and Islip controllers were error-free during federal fiscal years 2009 and 2010, the period covered by The Post’s study.

Controllers believe that many of their mistakes result from trying to juggle too much air traffic in too small a space.

At a big airport such as Dallas-Fort Worth — which is physically bigger than any one of New York’s but handles less traffic than their combined load — “the complexity factor is zero,” said Ray Adams, a Newark controller.

“They have three control towers, and they have one guy who works one or two runways,” Adams said. “Their runways are parallel, and they are spaced way apart, and the traffic never conflicts.

“At Newark, one controller works all three runways, and every piece of traffic conflicts with every other piece of traffic.”

The FAA says it has boosted its vigilance of controllers’ errors by encouraging them to report mistakes that might otherwise fly under the radar.

In a deal with the controllers’ union two years ago, the agency agreed not to punish self-reported air-control mistakes.

“We believe increased reporting will result in an even safer aviation system,” the agency said.

bill.sanderson@nypost.com