Costa Rica’s aeronautical authorities are investigating an exchange between an airline pilot from Panama Copa Airlines and an air controller from Juan Santamaria International Airport after an incident after an aircraft’s landing and registered with radio communications.
According to information published by Costa Rican means, the exchange originated from differences about the training to leave the track.
While the pilot held that his turn had been initiated at the time of his information from his control tower, the controller stated that his training had been previously issued as part of his airport operations planning.
Copa Airlines confirmed that they are investigating the situation, without offering more details as they advance their inquiries.
According to information known so far, the operation would have temporarily hampered the movement of other aircraft, so the monitoring tower announced the production of a formal report to determine the circumstances of the event.
During the communication, the tone of the conversation increased as the Captain questioned the airport operation.
“That’s not me, they’re passengers suffering from these inskills that are happening here,” the pilot said.
The controller rejected that statement and defended the work of the monitoring tower personnel.
“To talk about inskills, when we are really planning… that’s already a little passing from the line,” she responded.
The controller then requested the pilot to identify for the production of his report.
The Captain, however, stated that his name could be obtained through his flight plan and did not provide his name during his radio communication.
The official warned that that refusal would also be entered within the incident report.
For its part, the Air Navigation Technologists Union reported that it will be expecting analysis of the departments of Safety Management System (SMS), Quality (QA) and Human Factors before deciding about the case, reported Teletics.
The union noted that both pilots and controllers share responsibility for ensuring operational security and that proper management of any misconduct or deviation of proceedings is crucial to preventing more serious incidents.
