A seasoned air traffic controller in New Jersey shared that he had to jot down flight information manually in his notebook due to concerns about his radar system potentially failing. This incident occurred as he sought to prevent a head-on collision between aircraft.
Jonathan Stewart, 45, was stationed at the Philadelphia facility overseeing air traffic near the troubled Newark Liberty International Airport when this alarming situation unfolded on May 4th, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“I really don’t want to be the one responsible for causing harm to 400 people,” Stewart expressed during an extensive interview.
Recently, he took the drastic step of writing down the call signs of two planes that the radar system had detected, after experiencing difficulties.
The aerial scenario involved a business jet positioned near Morristown Airport and a small aircraft departing from Teterboro Airport.
Stewart explained, “I was managing operations for about three hours at the time of the crisis. Typically, I prefer not to work beyond two hours in a stretch. After that mark, my focus tends to wane, which is really exhausting.”
He commented further, “I was fatigued, and I had to mix both radar and non-radar procedures.”
“This situation upped my workload and resulted in close encounters, pushing us into worrying nose-to-nose scenarios,” he added.
