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Headache: More Runway Confusion At Newark Liberty

Reports Of Planes Directed Wrong Way On Runways Irks Officials

FAA Criticized For Sending Trainees To Man High-Pressure Posts

NEWARK (CBS) ― Planes at Newark Liberty International Airport depart southwest have historically turned to the left on take-off, but now a new regulation that went into effect in December allows controllers to tell pilots to take a right turn.

AS CBS 2 HD has learned, the new rule may be causing some confusion.

At Newark Liberty, some travelers are very concerned. The union representing air traffic controllers says several planes this month were sent in the wrong direction on take-off.

"We're running into confusion at the runway," said Ray Adams, vice president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. "The pilots are being told one thing 30 minutes before departure and then they get on the runway and we're required to tell them another thing."

Said one passenger: "That is very scary."

The union representing air traffic controllers blames the mishaps on new flight patterns to ease congestion and inexperienced controllers.

"The trainees the FAA has been sending us … they don't send controllers. They send us trainees," Adams said.

But at an FAA press conference on Thursday, an official downplayed the incidents.

"I think that Newark is adequately staffed," the official said.

The union says the problem stems from a recent change in take-off problems.

The change, union officials say, became a problem on Saturday when a Continental Airlines airplane on runway 2-2 right turned left on take-off when a controller had directed the pilot to go right.

Then on the same day, union officials say a controller in training confused the numbers of two Continental planes, sending them both in the wrong direction.

But the FAA says it can't substantiate the union's version of events and that confusion was not a factor in one incident earlier this month where a pilot was ticketed.

"The controller gave the pilot the correct heading," an FAA official said. "The pilot acknowledged that command, then did something different."

In fact, the FAA says airlines have not indicated pilots are confused about the new regulation.

A Continental Airlines spokesperson says the airline is not aware of the incidents described by the union and that it is looking into them.

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