AUSTIN, Texas — Some workers who are supposed to watch out for planes at Austin's airport are flying blind. According to documents from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), weather observers at the airport are working in a windowless room without internet access.
Close calls and staffing shortages: Those are some of the headlines we've seen surrounding Austin's airport in recent months. Now, NTSB documents say staff who monitor tarmac conditions are not getting the resources they need.
A report tied to the near-collision between two planes on a foggy morning last February mentions that at the time of that incident, FAA-contracted weather observers at the air traffic control tower were in a windowless office.
"I certainly think it's a safety-related issue. I will stand by that," said Troy Kimmel, a meteorologist and senior lecturer for the University of Texas at Austin's Department of Geography and Environment.
Kimmel said from his understanding, several years ago, those observers moved into the observation tower.
"At that point, there was just not any room available, from what I understand, and they were stuck in a second-story closet, basically with no windows. And that's where they continue to be," Kimmel said.
The tower does have windows at the top, and there's always at least one person up there. However, those people are not weather observers. According to the NTSB investigation report, observers are on the second floor with no windows and no internet access or phones at all in the tower. If they need to observe the weather, they have to leave the building altogether to do their job.
"The weather observers do need to have access to the outside. They also need internet access to see satellite, radar data," Kimmel said. "Just keep in mind, these are weather observers in the tower at Bergstrom that can't even look at weather radar."
Kimmel said this is only the case at Austin's airport.
In a statement to KVUE, an FAA spokesperson wrote in part, "Contract Weather Observers (CWOs) provide crucial weather information at air traffic control facilities. There have been no issues with CWOs obtaining weather observations at Austin Tower. Electronic devices, including cellphones, are not permitted in control towers."
The airport uses information from systems called ASOS, or Automated Surface Observing Systems. However, Kimmel said those systems need human backup.
"Our ASOS in Austin at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport cannot even, on its own – unlike most ASOSs across the country – it cannot sense freezing rain on its own."
Kimmel said he has a lot of respect for the FAA's employees and hopes to see them get the resources they need.