A private company runs the control tower where a B-52 got too close to a passenger jet. It is more common than you might think

CNN

5 days ago

The control tower where a Delta Air Lines regional jet had to perform an 'aggressive maneuver' to avoid colliding with an Air Force B-52 bomber isn't staffed by the Federal Aviation Administration, but rather air traffic controllers working for a private company.
It's more common than most fliers may think. About half of the control towers at civilian airports in the US are operated under contract by private companies, according to the FAA. Most are at smaller airports, like Minot International.
On Friday, the B-52 bomber was conducting a flyover at the North Dakota State Fairgrounds, near the Minot airport that, 'was planned in advance and approved by the Federal Aviation Administration,' according to a statement from Minot Air Force Base.
'The tower did not advise of the inbound commercial aircraft,' the statement said.
The passenger plane wasn't told about the bomber either, according to a video filmed inside the plane by a passenger and posted on TikTok.
The pilot of the Delta jet, operated by regional carrier SkyWest Airlines, can be heard telling passengers that the aircraft was 'kind of, sort of coming at us' and it was safest to turn sharply to pass behind it.
SkyWest, the FAA, and the military are all investigating what went wrong.
The Minot International Control Tower is operated by Midwest ATC, which declined to comment to CNN. It operates 93 towers in the United States and handles more than eight million passengers a year.
The company is a long-term provider of contract tower services, according to Michael McCormick, an associate professor and program coordinator of air traffic management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Despite these towers not being operated by the FAA, McCormick said there's no reason to believe they are not safe. 'In fact, the contract controllers at these towers are all former FAA or US military air traffic controllers,' he said.
An audit, conducted in 2020 by the Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General, found that contract towers are more cost effective than comparable FAA towers and have similar safety records. The FAA notes, 'all of the approximate 1,400 contract controllers meet the same qualification and training requirements as FAA air traffic controllers.'
The Minot Tower is also one of the 171 federal contract towers represented by the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the major air traffic controller union, who also represents FAA controllers.
Some contracted towers are located at small airports in Albany, Georgia; Brownsville, Texas; and Key West, Florida. In cities with major airports, contracted towers operate at smaller fields like Houston Executive, Detroit City and Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport.
The FAA's Contract Tower Program started in 1982 to allow employees of private companies to staff towers, rather than FAA employees. McCormick said it was a result of the 1981 air traffic controllers' strike when 12,000 members walked off the job. After a shortage plagued the industry, low activity towers were at risk of being shut down to provide staffing at busier towers, he explained.
'That is when they came up with the Contract Tower Program where they would actually provide opportunity for contractors to take over those initial control towers that they were going to shut down,' McCormick said.
Since then, he said, the program has grown. Generally, McCormick said, the towers are usually not equipped with radar displays. Controllers primarily rely on position reports from the aircraft and looking out the windows.
While investigators have not made public what caused the close call in Minot, McCormick said the communication with the two planes doesn't appear to have been accurate, ultimately leading to the regional pilot's evasive maneuver.
Overall, McCormick said having contracted towers increases safety – because the alternative for many of these small airports might be no tower at all.
'The contract tower program has operated safely, effectively and efficiently,' McCormick said. 'The contractors have provided great services, but at the same time, oversight needs to be strong.'