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Another ATC falls asleep...

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DieselDragRacer

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 30, 2006
Posts
11,056
RENO, Nev. — The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday it suspended an air traffic controller for falling asleep at work and being out of communication for 16 minutes, forcing a medical flight to land overnight without local support.

The suspension is the second this month for the FAA, which has investigated at least five lapses this year in airports around the country — four involving controllers falling asleep on the job. The FAA announced Wednesday it was immediately putting a second controller on the midnight shift at 27 airports around the country that currently use one controller overnight.

"I am totally outraged by these incidents. This is absolutely unacceptable," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. "The American public trusts us to run a safe system. Safety is our number one priority and I am committed to working 24/7 until these problems are corrected."

No one was injured when the flight carrying at least three people landed at Reno-Tahoe International Airport about 2 a.m. Wednesday. The FAA said the flight's pilot was in contact with regional radar controllers in northern California during the landing.

The pilot and airport staff tried to contact the controller multiple times without success, airport chief Krys Bart said.

"The flying public needs an assurance from the FAA that this situation will be addressed at all airports," Bart said. "We must have adequate staffing."
Last month, two jetliners landed at Washington's Reagan National Airport without tower assistance after the lone air traffic supervisor fell asleep.

A follow-up investigation by the FAA uncovered a second incident of an air traffic controller sleeping on the job in February during the midnight shift at McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tenn.

The FAA said Wednesday that a controller in Seattle had been suspended for falling asleep during a morning shift on Monday. The controller already faced punishment for falling asleep on two other occasions during an evening shift in January, the FAA said.

The agency says two controllers in Lubbock, Texas were suspended after two failed handoffs two weeks ago.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has ordered an examination of controller staffing at airports across the nation, and he directed that two controllers staff the midnight shift in Washington.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has added yet another investigation. National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Keith Holloway said the board has no plans to investigate the Reno incident.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in a statement that the incident is unacceptable.

"My office has contacted the Federal Aviation Administration to make it clear that this situation is completely unacceptable and to request that there be a minimum of two air traffic control personnel in the tower at all times," Reid said.

The Piper Cheyenne plane involved in the Nevada incident is a twin engine turboprop with seating for five.

"The pilot evaluated the airfield. The weather was clear. The aircraft did land without incident," she said.

It was not immediately clear where the flight was coming from.
Bart said the airport, which serves the Reno, Carson City and Lake Tahoe areas, opened a new air traffic control tower in October 2010.

She said the airport has three runways, including two with modern instrument landing and lighting systems.

The incidents come nearly five years after a fatal crash in Kentucky in which a controller was working alone. Investigators said the controller in Kentucky was most likely suffering from fatigue, although they placed responsibility for the crash that took 49 lives on the pilots.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association has warned against putting controllers alone on shifts and assigning tiring work schedules.

At most airport towers, there's no bathroom in the cab — the room on the top of the tower. With only one controller on duty, the position has to go unattended at times if the controller needs to use a bathroom. It's common for the nearest bathroom to be located down a flight of stairs from the cab.
 
Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood on air traffic controllers falling asleep at the switch.

"I guarantee the flying public we will not sleep until we can guarantee that there's good safety in the control towers when these planes are coming in and out of airports," LaHood told ABC's "World News." :laugh: :laugh:
 
TRACON..............."we may doze, but we never close"
 
Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood on air traffic controllers falling asleep at the switch.

"I guarantee the flying public we will not sleep until we can guarantee that there's good safety in the control towers when these planes are coming in and out of airports," LaHood told ABC's "World News." :laugh: :laugh:

If ALPA-N or maybe Sullenberger would go on a news cycle and state a couple of points like, controllers are limited to xx-hour duty days and they're tired. Pilots can go up to 16. Do you see a problem with that?

Controllers can take a break or a rest during their 8 hours on duty. Pilots can fly for eight hours and the only break is to slip out for a bathroom break while the other pilot gets to wear an O2 mask to enable him to miss the next clearance. See a problem?

Maybe the FAA chief who can change an FAR and bypass the RLA--overnight for cryin out loud--to change the staffing requirements in towers could do a little something for the flying public in implementing pilot rest rules that make sense. I guess he could go on the Sunday talk shows tomorrow and say, effective immediately, that pilots are required to get 10 hours of behind-the-door rest. Companies, deal with it.
 
why is this thread in the majors section?! Moderators?
It belongs here because what is going on with these rest issues are likely going to influence the speed and content our what pilots are going to see in perhaps just a few months.
 
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Why is everyone making such a stick about this now? People died in LEX, but two airplanes landed without a clearance and now this huge stink, just as they are about to change our rules to lets us fly more?

From the NTSB Report on Comair 191:

14. The controller was most likely fatigued at the time of the accident, but the extent that fatigue affected his decision not to monitor the airplane’s departure could not be determined in part because his routine practices did not consistently include the monitoring of takeoffs.

AND
Also, the Board issued the following recommendations to the FAA on
April 10, 2007:
Work with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association to reduce the
potential for controller fatigue by revising controller work-scheduling
policies and practices to provide rest periods that are long enough for controllers to obtain sufficient restorative sleep and by modifying shift
rotations to minimize disrupted sleep patterns, accumulation of sleep
debt, and decreased cognitive performance. (A-07-30)
Develop a fatigue awareness and countermeasures training program
for controllers and for personnel who are involved in the scheduling
of controllers for operational duty that will address the incidence
of fatigue in the controller workforce, causes of fatigue, effects of
fatigue on controller performance and safety, and the importance of
using personal strategies to minimize fatigue. This training should be
provided in a format that promotes retention, and recurrent training
should be provided at regular intervals. (A-07-31)
Require all air traffic controllers to complete instructor-led initial and
recurrent training in resource management skills that will improve
controller judgment, vigilance, and safety awareness. (A-07-34)

http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/2007/AAR0705.pdf
 

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