Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites), left, listens to a chant of, 'Four more years,' as his wife Lynne Cheney holds up four fingers during a campaign stop Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2004, in Pottsville, Pa. (AP Photo/Bradley C Bower)
Posted on 08/27/2004 11:40:47 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - A military plane carrying Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) came within almost half a mile of a small private plane over Bridgeport, Conn., last month, forcing the pilot to take evasive action, the Federal Aviation Administration (news - web sites) said Friday.
The plane, which is Air Force II when the vice president is aboard, was flying at about 7,500 feet while en route to Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y., when an on-board alert system alarmed, telling the pilot to climb to avoid colliding with the other plane.
The FAA (news - web sites) said such an event ordinarily wouldn't require an investigation, but a report was written and sent to the Air Force because it involved the vice president.
FAA spokeswoman Arlene Salac said that both planes were operating under visual flight rules. That means pilots should avoid another flight if they see it, which is what the Air Force pilot did, she said.
"The Air Force II pilot was given a traffic advisory saying where the general aviation aircraft was," Salac said. "Controllers were tracking the aircraft on their radar scopes."
Dean Iacopelli, president of the New York air traffic controller's union, blamed inadequate staffing for the problem, which he said happens about once a week in New York.
Iacopelli, a controller, said a supervisor was working the radar scopes while on overtime to augment the staff. Supervisors are required to work aircraft for only eight hours a month, while controllers work 40.
"He's not as proficient on it as someone who does it everyday," Iacopelli said. "We need more air traffic controllers."
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association has been campaigning for the FAA to hire more controllers as a wave of retirements is expected to hit the agency in the next few years.
Salac said the FAA makes no connection between staffing levels at the New York air traffic control center and the event.
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On the Net:
Federal Aviation Administration://http://www.faa.gov
Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites), left, listens to a chant of, 'Four more years,' as his wife Lynne Cheney holds up four fingers during a campaign stop Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2004, in Pottsville, Pa. (AP Photo/Bradley C Bower)
Well, shazaam!
Democratic National Committee (news - web sites) Chairman Terry McAuliffe discusses the current Bush administration's policy failures during a news conference at the DNC headquarters in New York, August 27, 2004. McAuliffe officially opened the DNC's New York headquarters, a few blocks from Madison Square Garden, site of next week's Republican National Convention, and a corresponding new website where a DNC rapid response team will counter Republican claims during the convention. REUTERS/Henny Ray Abrams REUTERS
Democratic presidential nominee U.S. Senator John Kerry (news - web sites) (D-MA) speaks to voters at a town hall meeting at the Westmoor High School in Daly City, California August 27, 2004. REUTERS/Brian Snyder US ELECTION
Sen. Ted Kennedy, the archetypal liberal Democrat from Massachusetts, is often called names by Republicans. But until this year he had never been viewed as a threat to U.S. air travel. Kennedy -- one of the most recognizable figures in American politics -- told a Senate committee hearing August 19, 2004 he had been blocked several times from boarding commercial airline flights because his name was on a 'no-fly' list intended to exclude potential terrorists. Kennedy addresses delegates on the second day of the 2004 Democratic National Convention at the FleetCenter in Boston, July 27, 2004. Photo by Gary Hershorn/Reuters
MoodyBlu
Air Traffic Controller
That's an innovative thought!
The landing path most days for Westchester airport goes literally, right over my head. I can look straight up at the planes..and it's also right overhead you-know-who's house...
The you-know-who's who are never at home there, right...?
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