"Report: Construction caused potential safety risks at O'Hare"

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

FAA finds O'Hare slip-ups
Construction equipment spurred runway and power problems, federal report
says
By Jon Hilkevitch
The Chicago (IL) Tribune


Construction equipment blocked runway safety areas at O'Hare International
Airport and severed power cables last year, creating potential collision
hazards and knocking out navigation aids for pilots, federal inspectors have
found.

In one incident, work crews cut or crushed a utility line powering a vital
safety system that warns pilots about dangerous wind-shear conditions close
to the ground, according to Federal Aviation Administration documents
obtained by the Tribune under the Freedom of Information Act.

The documents indicate that FAA inspectors found numerous violations by the
Chicago Department of Aviation, the O'Hare Modernization Program and O'Hare
expansion contractors. The alleged infractions occurred between June and
October 2006.

"What occurred is unacceptable and it is not going to be tolerated," said
Rosemarie Andolino, executive director of the $15 billion O'Hare expansion
project.

After an FAA construction inspection on June 23, the FAA issued a stern
warning letter to Chicago Aviation Commissioner Nuria Fernandez.

The letter, listing 17 violations, said the city Aviation Department "does
not have sufficient and qualified personnel" to comply with FAA
requirements, and the city "is not equipping personnel with sufficient
resources" to satisfy the regulations.

On Aug. 7, concerns reached the top of the FAA hierarchy in Washington,
D.C., when agency Administrator Marion Blakey asked about a report that
construction debris on O'Hare Runway 4 Right was causing flight delays.

There was no immediate threat to passenger safety in any of the incidents,
said the FAA, which did not fine the city or its contractors.

But the mistakes prompted stepped-up inspections and daily communication
between the city and federal authorities to ensure problems don't return as
work intensifies on the massive project.

"The feeling is that the city is definitely working to correct the
situation," said FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory. "But we are watching
very closely to maintain safety on the airfield."

The violations ranged from failing to ensure that mud and dirt from
construction work were promptly removed from areas where airplanes taxi, to
incidents in which construction equipment and material were stored in safety
zones off the ends of runways, according to documents.

Safety zones must remain clear of obstructions in case a plane either cannot
stop within the distance available on a runway or it undershoots the front
end of the runway.

Also, ground radar that helps controllers guard against aircraft collisions
on runways and taxiways and lighting systems that guide pilots to touch down
on the center of runways were compromised when cables were destroyed by
construction equipment, the FAA said.

For example, O'Hare contractors accidentally cut power cables, resulting in
equipment failures for navigation, weather, communications and
safety-related systems twice on June 19 and once on June 23, July 10, Oct.
4, Oct. 13 and Oct. 27, FAA records said.

Fernandez said the violations occurred during the first year of major
construction on the runway expansion project.

"This is the largest airport construction project in the world, also
happening at the world's second-busiest airport. Things are prone to happen,
but I was very confident we could deal with them, and we did," Fernandez
said.

In the incident that disrupted the primary power to the wind-shear warning
system on Oct. 27, the FAA sent two technicians to the location, between
Runways 9 Left and 9 Right, which were in use for landings, the documents
said.

Wind-shear involves rapidly changing wind currents and can cause crashes.

The technicians waited for city aviation security guards to open a
construction gate, the FAA said. When the technicians finally got to the
site, they found that lights intended to warn pilots of a 150-foot
obstruction were not working.

No accidents resulted because of the missing lights and the wind-shear
warning system was running on backup batteries, officials determined.

Meanwhile, city officials were sometimes slow to address problems and
participate in safety meetings called by the FAA, the documents show.

For example, a July 19 memo from Tricia Halpin, an FAA airports
certification safety inspector, to a top city aviation official lamented
that no one from O'Hare's operations staff attended a meeting to discuss
safety during different phases of construction.

"Several issues that have operational impact [were] discussed, however,
Operations was not present," Halpin wrote to O'Hare Chief Operating Officer
David Ochal.

"We believe it is critical that Operations attends these meetings."

The reprimand from Halpin followed an earlier no-show at a June meeting by
Aviation Department operations staff.

"I am sure you understand that a project of this magnitude requires
commitment, cooperation and communication between all parties," Halpin wrote
to city officials.

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