Air Traffic Controller Whose Split-Second Decision Narrowly Avoided Mid-Air Collision Speaks Out

Yahoo

17-05-2025

A veteran air traffic controller is speaking out about the high-pressure working conditions he and his colleagues are facing amid tech blackouts and staffing shortages.
Jonathan Stewart, 45, is a supervisor at Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON), which monitors flights traveling to and from Newark Liberty International Airport, as well as regional airports.
In recent weeks, air controllers have been faced with unimaginable challenges, such as the 90-second outage at Newark that made their computer screens go dark while simultaneously leaving them without any direct line of communication to pilots.
During an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Stewart got candid about how the traumatic experience has impacted him and his colleagues. He also detailed a close encounter between two planes flying near Newark, N.J., that called for him to make a split-second call to avoid a horrific accident.
The incident involved a business jet flying out of Morristown Airport in New Jersey and another smaller plane that had taken off at nearby Teterboro, according to the outlet. Stewart quickly noticed the two aircrafts flying directly towards each other at the same altitude during the fourth hour of his shift.
While he was able to quickly contact the two pilots and direct the two planes away from each other in time, he was 'badly shaken' by the near-collision as he feared their communication technology might give out like it did days before, per the outlet.
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As a result of the incident and the current working conditions, Stewart opted to take a stress-related trauma leave after writing a strongly-worded email to FAA managers. In the email, he emphasized, 'I take my job very seriously, as I do the safety of the flying public, and take pride in my performance.'
He notes that several of his colleagues have also taken leave after experiencing dangerous tech glitches, resulting in the same fear that these temporary outages could result in tragedy.
'I don't want to be responsible for killing 400 people,' Stewart said.
Of his high-pressure job, he adds, 'It's like a videogame, but it's like playing 3-D chess at 250 miles an hour. We are the guys that are guiding your pilots home.'
While he tells WSJ that he's set to earn a salary of over $450,000, he says it comes with 'a lot' of sacrifices, including demanding 60-hour work weeks. He adds that you're expected to 'give up nights, weekends, holidays, birthdays, everything else. Your mental health and your physical health take a toll.'
He notes that every time there's any kind of incident, it has a 'cumulative' impact on every air controller.
'The thing about PTSD is this: For every time you have an incident — say a close call, a near-midair, God forbid — all of these things are cumulative,' he explained.
He emphasizes that the lack of staffing is a major problem in air traffic control.
Earlier this month, United Airlines cut 35 roundtrip flights from Newark due to 'FAA staffing issues,' the airline said. Not only does being understaffed lead to delays, but it can also lead to unsafe working conditions for the controllers working on the job.
Stewart says in an ideal world, controllers shouldn't be actively monitoring traffic for more than two hours so they can stay sharp instead of possibly losing focus or getting fatigued.
'Like anything else, you're going to have a breaking point,' he added.
In a May 13 statement from the FAA on the current staffing issues, the agency noted, 'There is a nationwide shortage of air traffic controllers, and the FAA for years has not met the staffing goal for the area that works Newark airspace.'
The statement continued, 'If daily or per-shift staffing levels are low, the FAA ensures safety by implementing traffic management initiatives, such as slowing the flow of aircraft into an airport.'
All of this comes on the heels of the deadly mid-air collision of an American Eagle passenger jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter over Washington D.C.'s Reagan National Airport that killed 67 people, and significant cuts made to the FAA by the Trump Administration.
Read the original article on People