In the late 70’s our authority decided to commission a series of training movies for air traffic controllers and engineers. The purpose was to show some of the most commonly occurring errors, give an analysis of the causes and provide some guidance on how to avoid them. I was selected to write the script for the ATC episodes.
By the time the movie was to be made, we were limited to just four events, probably due to cost considerations. Like in any other profession, also in air traffic control, errors, human and otherwise, do occur but most of the time nothing serious happens. The safety system makes sure of that. So there is a wide range from which to select but which four should be included in the movie? I was sure however that one particular incident would get included. Not only would it highlight a real problem, it would also have tremendous visual impact. Something that was begging to be immortalized on film.
I will not go into the details of the error that led to two mid-sized aircraft loaded with passengers finding themselves at a few feet from each other, one just lifting off, the other aborting its landing, desperately climbing to avoid a collision. It did happen… The question was now: how do we recreate this near miss for the camera?
After a few long discussions with the director, the cameraman and the pilots who would fly for us, we found a way… There were no post-production tricks or even powerful computers to edit things or create simulations. Here are a few frames from that old film. Judge for yourself…
Of course this was not the end of the story. Filming took place on a Saturday afternoon because there was less traffic and we could have the runway for ourselves for the 30 minutes or so we needed for the spectacle. And a spectacle it was! Of course we did not count on some of the people on the observation terrace thinking that what they saw was dead serious and even less on one of them calling the evening paper… Next thing we knew, the paper carried a bold headline article: Catastrophy narrowly avoided at airport.
The next day the CAA wanted to know why they did not get a report about the serious incident… When we asked the director why nobody else knew about what was being planned, he just shrugged. “Do you think they would have approved the filming if they had known about it?” – he said with a wink.
Somehow we all kept our jobs and the movie went on to win several awards in its category.
Hi Steve,
it sounds like an unbelievable story but of course I believe what you wrote. I heard similiar tales from the “ancient times” told by retired collegues. Thank you for sharing this one. I wonder if you have a copy of that movie. I am keen on seeing that.
Hi Vulkan,
I am glad you liked this posting. It was a lot of fun making those movies… Yes I do have a copy of the ATC one as well as the other which was meant for the engineers. I got the original copies as the script writer. The copyright owner was the Ministry of Transport and Post and I guess whoever is their successor has the copyright. To the best of my knowledge, most of the film archives of KPM have been given to the Museum of Transport… At least the Filmmuzeum TV channel seems to be showing some old footage with credits to the Museum of Transport archives. Drop me a mail to info@bluskyservices.com and we can discuss how you may obtain a free copy.