The FAA is eliminating National Weather Service forecasters at all 21 of its Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCC) in favor of an automated system. The alarm was raised by the National Weather Service Employees Organization Monday. The group says forecasters will get their walking papers on April 20. The FAA didn’t confirm the decision but told USA TODAY that something is in the works.
“The FAA and NOAA are working on a path forward on the interagency agreement,” the FAA said in a statement to USA TODAY. “The weather safety of our national airspace remains our shared top priority and there will be no change in service that will impact this goal.” The NWS workers said the move “will endanger flight safety across the National Air Space for the traveling public and airline industry crews” according to USA TODAY.
The current system of having staff meteorologists at every ARTCC was authorized by Congress in the early 1980s after a Southern Airways DC-9 lost both engines in a thunderstorm and made a forced landing on a road in Georgia. A total of 72 people, including nine on the ground, died but 20 passengers and two crew survived. The crew was not warned of the dangerously deteriorating weather.
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