Airport administrator: According to the latest figures, less than 1 commercial flight in 2 million strays off course while landing, a number low enough to allow runways to be built closer together without a significant increase in risk
Opponents of closer runways claim that the number is closer to 1 in 20, 000, but this figure is based on a partial review of air traffic control tapes and so is relatively unreliable compared to the other figure, which is based on a thorough study of the flight reports required of pilots for all commercial flights
The argument overlooks the fact that those who make mistakes are often unreliable sources of information about those mistakes.