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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4th night in a row?? So plenty of time to get acclimated. Don't try to maintain a day schedule on your stretch of nights.
If ATC is such a critical function why only one controller??
Hi JohnK52, miss your insight. Faa was mandated to due away with single person mids by NTSB after the numerous fatalities in Lexington, KY, several years ago, but as usual Faa Management which is ripe with "diversity" candidates and weak sticks who couldn't/shouldn't/wouldn't work traffic making the rules for the sharp dedicated individuals that do it 24/7.
Fact: When you are an Air Traffic Controller, you NEVER sleep on the job.
Integrity: You don't sleep on the job.
Common sense: You don't sleep on the job.ESPECIALLY when lives depend on your being awake and alert!
Grounds for firing: Sleeping on the job AND all levels of mgmt who were cognizant that only one person was left in a tower to control traffic which is a safety position upon which hundreds of lives are at stake.
I don't get why everyone is freaking out about this. "This people couldve died!!!!" If they had a pilot that was also asleep then yeah. There are procedures in place as far a what to do in the event that happens. Calm down people. They were never in any danger. And he feel asleep, okay. Now working in a flight control tower probably wasn't the best place to take a nap, but I don't think he needs to be crucified for it. A punishment such as a suspension without pay should be good enough. God gives second chances, why don't we??
amen...
Dude was pulling so many all nighters because they don't want to hire anoher controller so they can alternate working he overnight shift..the big CEOs can't have multimillion dollar bonuses If they actually hired workers. Just another product of our failing economy IMHO.
What Irony! Ronald Reagan Fires the air trafic controllers for striking and they hired loser replacements. Now, a air trafic controller sleeps at Ronald Reagan airport. I wonder if he was hired back then? HA!
it's called trickle down air traffic control. atc falls asleep, air traffic trickles down out of the sky. works every time.
Ironic indeed. Good catch.
..and as much as I want to blame management, it was the controllers responsibility to alert people he was too tired to do his job. If you're not a night owl, don't take a night job, especially when safety matters as much as it does here.
shame this happened..he has the midnite shift people work those shifts 5 days str8 all the time he should have adjusted his sleep pattern in order to get more sleep before work.. that type of job there should always be 2 people..job cuts affect every1 smh...unfortunately he needs to be fired just because of the safety and lives in his hand.. u sleep before work
everyone, this isn't new jersey... they know how to fly their planes. if all of a sudden a traffic light goes out in new jersey, yeah all the cars crash into each other because they are idiots. but pilots are trained for problems.
what if snooki got a pilots license
you people are morons
Fire mngmt. Ridiculous to schedule only one ATC! But what sweet irony! It happened at the airport named for the idiot who busted the ATC union. Ya happy now?!
Why was there only one person on duty in the tower? Budget cutbacks??
WHERE WAS EVERYONE? You cannot tell me only 1 person was working on a job like that. Very poor mngmnt to say the least. And the gvmnt wonders why so many people dislike them. Yeah, good ole USA.
I think it was greedy corporations and that damned republicans with their union bushing tactics. -sarcasm-
First and foremost, no lives were in danger. The tower ATC is not crucial to the landing process, especially at tha time. Second, why don't all you people look to the ones who have really caused this ... our government. They made cuts in a system that was already overworked and using antiquated technologies! Thankfully the FAA Recert bill bassed ... but that won't take effect for years and we need solutions NOW.
Poor overworked abused feller should probably move to WI and join the union
Please everyone, cool your jets ... that controller was completely ALONE! This is what is unacceptable ... what if the controller had suffered a heart attack? What if the controller had passed out because he slipped and fell? I don't think he should be fired ... but I DO think the policy should be changed immediately [I believe it just was] AND I think the shift length should be shortened with frequent rotations. This poor person is likely being the hardest on themselves as, only people with a real passion for this line of work – take this job.
A former airline employee [and granddaughter of one of the men who built DCA].