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FAA suspends 2 for movie watching while on duty
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal aviation officials say another air traffic controller has been suspended, this time for watching a movie when he was supposed to be monitoring aircraft. The Federal Aviation . . . (flightaware.com) Mehr...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
One point that seems to be missed. This controller wasn't asleep in fact he was probably watching the movie to help stay awake. Another thing to consider, these controllers have grown up in the digital/information overload age so sitting in the dark with nothing to do is completely foreign to them.
I guess even since Air Force days, tthere has always been the interest in Aircraft and ATC in general. Had it not been for a medical sideline, I had ATC school out of boot camp.I remember at Davis-Monthan in Tuscon, that was the busiest, single use runway in the world at the time, having, at that time an F4 wing, a C130 wing and was HQ for the USAF's U2 wing; talk about a traffic mix from fast to slow. Had a lot of friends in the tower and I can guarantee you that there was no time for sleeping then, day or not. If you went up and visited, you basically kept your head down and your mouth shut, cause at any pattern position you wanted to look at, something was there.
Wayne, you're right. The hard-working individuals that do their job right, regardless of the shift, never get recognized. They're the ones that have to suffer by being lumped with the few that have made some poor decisions on the job and thus, now have to hear it from their peers. It is a shame that some ignorant, news-watching idiots now are going to place a stigma on ALL controllers.
Wow is all I can say. It's going to take a major accident to fix a problem. It's just human nature.
I personally like the old "Iron Eagle" series
It isn't anything new everyone, this happens all the time. The FAA just started doing something about it when that one incident at KDCA became publicized. Plenty of controllers fall asleep, or watch movies on their portable DVD players; we just never hear about it. So to answer peoples question "Isn't it ridiculous that 8 controllers fell asleep in the past 8 weeks? You would think they would be more alert after the past few incidents." The answer is no, because this isn't something new. It is just newly recognized by the public, and the FAA is trying to do something about it so they can gain more support.