Santo Domingo.- The Air Traffic Controllers grouped in ADCA on Monday called statements by the National Pilots Association (ANP), "stateless, irresponsible and reckless" for questioning the quality of Dominican Republic’s air traffic control services.

ADCA president Felix Rosa Martinez affirmed that the ANP president “maliciously manipulated” a document from the Civil Aviation Institute’s Incident Prevention Unit, which reports routine occurrences which in its view don’t pose a threat to airspace control or security.

He said on the contrary they allow for timely intervention by controllers to guarantee the integrity of the aircraft and its occupants. "I the denunciations at issue were to be certain, the international organisms in charge of guarding the security of civil aviation would’ve taken a responsible and opportune action against the Dominican State, declaring our airspace unsafe and preventing the airlines from entering it."

The row began early this year when Pilot Association president Pedro Dominguez denounced the lack of controls in flight plans, and last week described the near missies and other incidents in Dominican airspace as “hair raising.”