Are air traffic controllers implicated in the crash?
I think it is far too early to speculate one way or the other. We will have to wait for the final analysis of the air accident investigators before we can point any finger of blame on individuals. What is the quality of Swiss Air Traffic Control? It is exceptionally good, as are all European air traffic control operators. It was a state-run operation with a shift towards privatisation. I doubt that this has had an effect on this particular incident. There is one thing to add here. During daylight hours, a country’s air space is divided into sectors with a given number of controllers controlling the sectors and a certain number of aircraft. But during the night hours as the traffic levels diminish sectors are often grouped together with one or two controllers operating them. A possibility, however vague, exists that the attention of a controller was taken to something happening elsewhere in his area of control and he did not notice what was going on until it was too late when he had to
