Aviation News Item: 00460

11th Aug 2009

Source: ubmaviationnews.com

Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS), Germany's air traffic control (ATC) provider, wants to record conversations between controllers as a safety precaution in future, in addition to the current recordings of exchanges via radio and telephone. The new measure is to be tested in one section of the Langen control centre for a 12-month period starting in April 2010, German media have reported. The test has been approved by the organisation's employees committee. It comes as a result of a near-miss incident at Frankfurt International airport on July 18, 2009 (see UBM Aviation News from August 5), when a Cessna 425 wrongly took off from a taxiway and narrowly missed a 737 that was parked there. An investigation found that just one controller instead of the legally required two was in his position on the tower.

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