A scathing report issued by the House Oversight Committee blamed the Navy for repeatedly failing to act, and recommended that Congress pass legislation to study and treat aviators.
Potential disaster was averted when a Phoenix air traffic controller recognized two American Airlines jets mistakenly were flying the same flight number.
AI:A vigilant air traffic controller in Phoenix successfully averted a mid-air catastrophe when he identified that two separate American Airlines aircraft were attempting to occupy the same airspace using identical flight numbers. This breakdown in operational protocol nearly resulted in a direct collision between the two jets, highlighting ongoing systemic failures and lack of oversight within modern aviation management.Open
Investigators are just beginning to determine what went wrong, but the Air Force has struggled to maintain the planes, which were first introduced in 1955.
NTSB Vice Chairman Michael Graham said investigators are on scene collecting any avionics that may have survived the crash.
The nation's top safety investigators will launch a two-day hearing beginning Tuesday into what caused a UPS cargo plane to crash shortly after takeoff in Louisville last year, killing 15 people.
The report focuses on the lack of transponders in the fire trucks, which investigators suggested could have allowed an automatic warning system to alert the controller of an imminent collision.
A small plane landed on a busy Phoenix street, with officials calling it a miracle that no one was seriously injured in the plane or on the ground.
NTSB said it was seeking information on the duties being performed by each air traffic controller.
The accident at LaGuardia has raised questions about whether the minimum standard of two air traffic controllers on overnight shifts is sufficient.
The House of Representatives narrowly rejected a bipartisan aviation safety bill that was spurred by the deadly midair collision near Washington, D.C. after the Pentagon abruptly withdrew its support.