The air traffic controller involved in the radio silence incident at Reagan National Airport fell asleep as planes approached the airport for landing, the National Transportation Safety Board says.
The controller, who had 20 years experience, 17 of those at Reagan, told officials he had fallen asleep for a period of time while on duty, according to an NTSB statement. The controller was working his fourth consecutive overnight shift (10p-6a.) The NTSB says it has opened an investigation.
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#FAIL
Give him some slack, who cares if he endangered hundred of lives.
Nobody's lives were endangered.
1) SHOULD NOT have been alone. No one to relieve you for breaks?
2) If you normally don't work night shifts it's incredibly hard. Your body takes weeks to adjust to different sleeping schedules.
3)I have fallen asleep without realizing it. Many traffic accidents happen that way. You don't even know it happens.
4) Regardless if he's working all night shifts, you still have to get things done during the day. You can't go 4 days without needing to run errands, spend time with spouse, cook food, laundry, just take care of day life which you can't do at night.
5) To anyone saying it's easy to do you can't expect every human being to be able to do what you can do. While my best friend can stay up for days doing things and partying... I cannot. If I don't get the sleep I need I will be out the next day and in a haze.
Please return all seats and air traffic controllers to their full, upright positions. Flight crew, prepare for landing.
Made me think Die Hard 2 was going on.
the planes should have flown real close to the tower......that would of woke him up......
No lives were endangered?? So i guess aircraft controllers are not nessary... Or Just there to ensure safety some times when they feel like it..... Or no no i got it! it's something to spend money on for no reason at all, yep that's it.
It was a mistake, no doubt but he should be repromanded for falling asleep. He gets paid very well to do his job. That being said, there should have been more than one person there.
l.. the contoler who fell asleep send him home indefinitely with pay . 2. immediatley FIRE his supervisior PERIOD.
That's so true, double redundancy just like everything on a airplane
4th Overtime, Greedy, Cop falls a sleep on duty he is out the door, remember the last time the TSA bunch were laughing about their jobs, and 4 box cutters went through the gate, little cutting up on the planes..
these tower boys are always bragging about what they make and how little they have to do...
@Chris
" 1) SHOULD NOT have been alone. No one to relieve you for breaks?"
That's why you plan your bathroom breaks accordingly. You would know if no planes are going to be landing for 20 min etc, obviously! You think there's no protocol? BTW many airports don't even use a control person overnight.
"2) If you normally don't work night shifts it's incredibly hard. Your body takes weeks to adjust to different sleeping schedules."
And? This person was a supervisor, who has 20 years experience, 17 AT that airport. He was on his 4th night, meaning he should have been well adjusted.
"3)I have fallen asleep without realizing it. Many traffic accidents happen that way. You don't even know it happens."
Yup, all those accidents caused by people falling asleep without realizing it. They call those people NEGLIGENT. Do me a favor and don't ever drive in my city.
"4) Regardless if he's working all night shifts, you still have to get things done during the day. You can't go 4 days without needing to run errands, spend time with spouse, cook food, laundry, just take care of day life which you can't do at night."
So, he falls asleep at work? He worked 10pm-6am. There's NO reason why he couldn't run errands before work. It's not like he's sleeping from 6am – 10pm o.O
"5) To anyone saying it's easy to do you can't expect every human being to be able to do what you can do. While my best friend can stay up for days doing things and partying... I cannot. If I don't get the sleep I need I will be out the next day and in a haze."
This has nothing to do with anything. There is no excuses for this person falling asleep at the job. Not someone who's been working there forever. Perhaps he figured he could get away with a nap but ended up sleeping longer. Who knows, guess we will find out.
:O
Hope they cut the guy some slack (and install an office coffee machine).
I agree. He's given 20 years of service so I hope they take that into account. I'd hate to see him lose everything over one mistake
Re:JB007
Well, in ATC business, one mistake can potentially cost hundreds of lives.
Maybe next time he can snort some coke to stay up
@jb007, how do we know this was his first mistake? This could have been the first time he was caught, or maybe the first time it became public.
If you fell asleep at work, what would your boss say? Besides, there is a big difference between falling asleep making french fries and falling asleep while dozen of people are depending on you to land them safely.
RE Akira – No lives were in danger.
True, but in this case it didn't I suppose two planes could have approached the same runway and collided but they didn't.
If the controller had multiple mistakes then he probably should be fired. But, if this is his first ever mistake of that kind, then he should be cut a little slack. No one was killed, no one was injured.
I have a Keurig in my office, IT IS AMAZING!
What if he was out drinking before he came to work? Would you still cut him some slack?
fourth consecutive overnight shift???? pretty sure that means trouble it was bound to happen cant blame a human for not being able to stay awake after working four consecutive overnights.
What? It just says he was working his fourth consecutive day. Doesn't mean he has been up four straight days. Your telling me you can't be counted on to work four days in a row?
I work 5 consecutive day shifts and sleep at night. If it's his job to work at night, then he needs to sleep during his off hours. DUH, Not Winning!!
Most people work 5 consecutive day shifts and manage not to fall asleep.
@fost, Have you ever worked the night shift? Try getting your laundry done, paying your bills, and maintaining a relationship with your spouse and the rest of the family AND get enough rest to stay awake from 10 pm to 6 am 4 days in a row.
I don't care what anyone says it isn't easy and if he was showing signs of fatigue it is as much the responsibility of the people around him to get him out of that situation as it was his own.
Plus, if he didn't normally work overnights it would be difficult to work that shift.
I guess you never worked an overnight shift. Let me tell you it's harder than you think. You have to black out your bedroom and turn off the phones. People think because you work at night it's fine to call during the day.
It doesn't say he worked 4 consecutive days in a row without sleeping (i.e. 96 hours straight). He was working 8 hour shifts, just like the rest of us. Do people who work during the day have an excuse to fall asleep at work on Thursdays since it's their fourth day in a row? No. No excuse.
He should have slept during the day. Not the easiest thing to do though. I worked 7:00pm to 7:00AM for six years, so I know what it can be like.
Maybe that no sleep policy is dangerous ya think?
I think what people that are responding to your comment are overlooking is that fact that he probably doesn't always work overnight shifts. to say he worked 4 overnight shifts in a row implies to me that he typically doesn't work the overnight shift. anyone that has ever had to go from working days to working overnight knows your body doesn't adjust right away and by several days into your new schedule, your exhausted. after a few weeks of it you get used to it but before that you just feel drained.
To Sterling: Youve obviously never worked an overnight shift. Its unnatural and difficult on the body. I worked for nearly a year at an overnight job and never fully got used to it. Once I returned to a day job I was happy and so was my body. In any case, since this was a supervisor, its possible he doesnt normally work the night shift. This may have been coverage only for the week (tho we will have wait a find out). Im not making excuses for him, however. Its his responsibility to do his job. Just cut him some slack already.
I have worked 14-12 hour day shifts I'n a row and not once did fall asleep, i must be super human
My husband just got off a stint of working 12+ hour days, 7 days a week, for almost 4 consecutive months. We have a one year old son and my husband still manages to get sufficient sleep to work on the jets that keep this country safe. You can't blame 4 consecutive work days on this. There are most likely other factors but don't use 4 consecutive work days as one.
Being on night-shift is NO EXCUSE. I know humans love excuses and dodging blame, but don't be ridiculous.
What about people who live in Alaska, where it remains dark for months on end? I guess they are all allowed to fall asleep on the job, because it's 'unnatural'.
I know people who work nights and THRIVE, my brother is one of them. Some people even PREFER the night shift. So don't give me this baloney.
Investigate what? He was sleep.
Herp-Derp I dunno maybe the fact that his supervisor shouldn't have scheduled him four overnights in a row or if anyone noticed during the four overnights in a row that he was losing concentration, showing signs of fatigue. Usually in situations like this people don't choose to fall asleep its a bunch of factors.
sounds like an overpayed, underworked typical gov't worker...
@juanpaco
Nice one! I like how you can't even spell overpaid. You sound like a typical undereducated worker with an overinflated sense of worth.
@juanpaco, i AM a government worker and NO, I am NOT overpaid and underworked – i work my ass off 9 1/2 hours a day (more than you probably do) and what I get paid is barely enough to cover my basic bills. i guess you think that all government workers get fat paychecks and great benefits. think again because you are so very delusional if that's what yo believe.
Ya like when George suggested a chair for the security guard on one Seinfeld episode, maybe they should be standing? Factory workers typically don't have that buttock comfort to encourage falling asleep during the night shift. ATC person should be fired due to the lack of respect for public safety, or at minimum – take away his chair!!
Can we blame him? He was being overworked obviously. He should not be alone up there and should not be working 4 straight overnights.
yeah we can blame him. four days in a row of working 8 hour shifts? it doesn't mean he has been up four straight days, it just means he works the night shift and maybe should sleep during the day.
I agree, it's the manager's fault for having only one person to staff an entire tower at a major international airport, which should never happen. He was being overworked and likely exhausted. There wouldn't have been an issue if they had at least one additional controller there.
Fost- sounds like you've never worked a night shift and don't know what you're talking about.
oops..
Hey, I commend the guy for being straight up. Unfortunately, actions have consequences. He would have only been into his shift for a couple of hours before falling asleep. Not good.
I don't blame the employee himself, the fact that he was given 4 straight overnight shifts proves negligence on his superiors.
No it just means he works the night shift. Working four nights in a row four 8 hours at a time isn't a superhuman feat.
Results of just another case of FAA understaffing, should always be a second ATC. Just try to get a bathroom or lunch break! Not going to happen.
If you can't stay awake during such a critical shift, then don't work it. He wasn't just dozing. If he couldn't hear the comunicator (and assuming he turned up the volume in order to wake him), then he was in a deep sleep, at midnight.
Tough break, but that is a firing offense.
The midnight shift is the least critical of the day at a domestic airport. Not saying you should sleep through that time, but if there was any time to have no one there, that would be the time. 2 planes landing and zero taking off is a pretty quiet shift.
Sleept - that's what happens when it's night time, you're tired, alone and it's quiet. Speaking as a former Air Traffic Controller, that guy shouldn't have been on duty alone if the airfield was open and expecting arrivals.
I agree with you. This is one profession that should have more than one person in attendance at ALL TIMES. But of course the ATC will be blamed and maybe he should be. But the policy is CRAP and some one higher up should be fired for incompetence. The bottom line was more important that peoples lives. Thank GOD there wasn't a disaster.
/facepalm
Y'know, 10-6 is an 8 hour shift, it's not like he was doing doubles. I worked overnights for several months, the only thing you can do is get enough rest during the day which he clearly didn't. Sorry, no sympathy for this guy.
Why is there only 1 guy in the tower? What if he has to go to the bathroom? I can hear the captain now: "sorry folks we're holding for a while because the atc'er ate too many burritos."
If a controller needs to use the restroom he/she simply contacts (in this case) Approach Control and tell them you are closing the tower for 10 minutes or so. This is a common procedure when your alone in the tower. Having said that, I'm surprised there was only one controller on duty even if they are just landing aircraft at night.
or what if its worse than those burrito's? riddle me that one. No excuse for just one ATC.
They were probably severely short staffed, formerATC... dunno when you left, but they've been mandatory 6 day weeks and all vacation denied for a few years now at most large facilities. And cutting starting level pay to $12 an hour didn't help, half of the 2000 new hires last year quit because they literally weren't getting trained (no controllers to train) and they couldn't live on $12 an hour.
It's hard to stay alert while sitting at a computer screen at night. Everyone is asleep then normally. With the supercomputers we have these days, they don't need comptrollers.
It's too bad you don't know anything about controllers. A tower controller doesn't look at a scope since it is a non-radar position.
right, in the tower they do have a TDW radar display but you normally don't stare at it. Instead, you stare at the blinking lights, the rotating yellow lights on the trucks...blink...blink...blink all night long. Just you and the silence and the blinking.
tick.....tick......tick......