I agree entirely and I said last night that I felt sorrow for the air traffic controller concerned.
I think this controller was only very slightly to blame and that there are more people out there who are responsible in some way or another.
Peter X had tried to put off technical work which was taking place, supposedly during a quiet period. This work was going to result in the system temporarily being down-graded to an older version, one that wouldn’t alert the controller of two aircraft flying towards each other. So for a start, whoever decided that the change of software was necessary should take some of the blame.
The technicians who carried out the work obviously didn’t carry it out as they should – the phone line was not working properly and when the air traffic controller spotted that something was wrong, he could not really do anything i.e. pass of the A320 Greek (?) flight which was on it’s way to Germany (?).
The A320 flight played a crucial role in this disaster. It distracted the controller from what he was supposed to be doing. As he wasn’t able to use the telephone to pass the flight onto someone else, he was really in trouble. As he tried to sort the late A320, the Russian 154 and the DHL 757 moved closer and closer together.
Next comes this TCAS system which is supposedly an avoidance system. Why do ATC (on the ground) and TCAS (in the air) not say the same thing? One of the aircraft received an alert telling it to climb or descend, but air traffic control was saying the opposite. Confusion amongst the crew of the crowded Russian cockpit, led them to do the wrong thing, descending. Straight ahead, the DHL aircraft descended, too. The air traffic controller believed that all was fine again and could finally get back to work with the A320. It was obviously at this point that the 757 sliced through the 154, killing dozens of people, 45 being children under the age of 15.
If I was Peter X, I’d be feeling extremely guilty, having been responsible for the two aircraft which collided with each other. On the other hand, I’d know I’d done the right thing. I would convince myself that I had done everything within my power, considering the circumstances – no telephone, no collegaues around and a control system which lacks its usual features.
What really irritates me about this and with other air crashes is when they say the crash is a result of “pilot error”. In this case, it is controller error. Let’s assume you are flying a plane which is perhaps doomed. All the engines have for some reason or another, failed, you’ve got hundreds of passengers out the back and you’re miles from anywhere. What do you do? You would do what you have been trained to, do what you think is best, trying to save as many lives as possibly upon impact. So for doing what any pilot is likely to do when a problem arises, you get the blame.
Much like this controller, what could he have done? He was powerless. It is likely that any controller would have acted exactly the same way as he did.
Before the technical work began, Peter X did telephone to request that the work be scheduled for some other time. This request was declined. So, whoever made the decision not to re-schedule the work plays some responsibility. By agreeing with Peter X and having the work carried out at another date, this crash would never have happened.
So many people could be blamed, but I do not think the controller who was supposed to be in control, is to blame.
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