AIR TOWER FAULTED; CONTROLLERS UNION BLAMES LOW STAFFING FOR NEAR COLLISION.

Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services

Officials of an air-traffic controllers union say a narrowly averted collision between two airliners was a symptom of understaffing at the Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center in Palmdale.

The pilots of the Delta Airlines L-1011 and the Alaska Airlines MD-80 were on a collision course at 25,000 feet Monday, when a controller discovered it and ordered them to turn sharply. That situation was created by what federal aviation officials called a lapse by a busy air-traffic controller.

``The flying public and the American people need to know that at Los Angeles Center, routinely, positions that are designed to be staffed by two controllers - especially during busy times - are being staffed by just one controller,'' said Hamid Ghaffari, a spokesman in Palmdale for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

The jets were as close as 2-1/2 miles apart when an air-traffic controller noticed the potential disaster Monday afternoon. With a combined speed of 1,000 mph, that means impact was just eight seconds away.

Federal Aviation Administration rules call for planes to be five miles apart horizontally and 1,000 feet vertically, said FAA spokesman Mitch Barker in Seattle.

The two planes were over the Anza Borrego Desert State Park in San Diego County.

The Alaska plane was headed to Los Angeles from Mexico and the Delta plane from Los Angeles to Atlanta. Both planes were at 25,000 feet, and the Delta plane was rerouted south to avoid thunderstorms - putting it closer to the Alaska plane.

When the Alaska plane was handed over from the Mexican air traffic center to the Los Angeles one, the air-traffic controller in Palmdale requested the pilot pull up to 27,000 feet.

The pilot was unable to get to that altitude, but the controller was too busy and forgot to record it - which amounted to ``operational error,'' Barker said.

Barker said the controller handling the Alaska and Delta flights had requested help. One supervisor was trying to find another controller to come in and help, and another supervisor was making calls to try to slow down the traffic coming into the area, Barker said.

When the controller realized the airliners were at the same altitude, both planes were ordered to make immediate 40-degree turns.

The controllers union spokesman criticized the Los Angeles Center as ``the worst staffed en route center in the nation.''

``The air-traffic controller staffing for the swing watch of Aug. 31 was inadequate and unsafe,'' Ghaffari said. ``This is an unsafe situation. Controllers are overburdened day after day.''

The Palmdale center is authorized to have 309 controllers, but is now staffed by 264, Barker said. The center will be adding 22 controllers this month, Barker said.

The air-traffic controller, whose name wasn't released, was ``pretty shook up,'' Ghaffari said.

``He can't work airplanes until the investigation is complete,'' he said.

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MAP: 8 SECONDS FROM DISASTER