On-duty controller during crash had 2 hours sleep before work

[Tri-holer]

I don't mean to sound flippant since there but for the Grace of God go I.

Since when is the controller responsible for making sure that we taxi to and take off of the correct runway. Ultimately it comes down to the crew to do what is directed or by using our command authority, to tell ATC no. If a controller sees that we are messing up, by all means let us know (and they don't hesitate to "Are you ready to copy down a phone number?") but if they don't see it, it doesn't become their fault. It is still our responsibility and it always will be.

My $.02.

 

[atlcrjdriver]

The skd is brutal and to have the guy alone working all freq. and approach on a short rest period is insane. The question is, what did the controller do wrong? He cleared the a/c to rwy 22 as per the cvr. He cleared them for t/o on rwy 22 as per the cvr. The twy closures and rwy lts on rwy 26 being ots were all in the NOTAM per the NTSB.

If the airport was uncontrolled at the tx would that have made a difference?

 

[MELIT]

From the Lexington Newspaper


The lone air traffic controller on duty the morning Comair Flight 5191 crashed had only two hours of sleep before starting work on the overnight shift, a federal investigator said Wednesday.

National Transportation Safety Board member Debbie Hersman said the controller had only nine hours off between work shifts Saturday. That was just enough to meet federal rules, which require a minimum of eight hours off between shifts, Hersman said.

The controller, whose name has not been released publicly, worked from 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. He came back to work at 11:30 p.m. on the same day to begin an eight-hour overnight shift.

The commuter jet crashed on Sunday morning, in the final hours of the controller’s shift, while trying to take off from Blue Grass Airport.

Federal officials have been looking for explanations why Flight 5191 mistakenly tried to take off from a runway that was too short, crashing in a nearby field and killing 49 of 50 people on board.

The Federal Aviation Administration has already acknowledged violating its own policies when it assigned only one controller to the Lexington tower. FAA guidelines called for two controllers to be working at all times in Lexington

We all know who's at fault. I don't care if he was up all night.

 

[Gofish]

To come off a day shift and go to a grave shift on the same day is brutal--no matter how much sleep you have. What a joke.

Yet we do it...day in and day out on CDO's, Highspeed, Reduced rest overnights. Has the FAA done their part to be sure the public is protected by well rested pilots or has the airline executive core pulled the FAA's puppet strings?

 

[Big Dog]

With any luck this piss poor attempt by the FAA at saving money should change due to the bad press alone, not to mention 49 deaths. To have one controller recording ATIS, working ground, tower and approach & departure scopes is insane. Not to mention trying to do it in the middle of the night with minimum rest. I don't care how busy the airport isn't, you'll have to step off for a minute or two to grab a coffee and then take a leak.

It just goes to show that the regs are written in blood.

 

[PA44Jockey]

"A tower controller is responsible for aircraft separation on the runways. I don't think this is possible if the controller doesn't know which runway the airplane is using. So, I would say that without a doubt the controller has responsibility in this matter."

Someone posted this on another board. Not placing blame, but this could have prevented a tragedy had the tower been staffed correctly.

 

[atlcrjdriver]

"A tower controller is responsible for aircraft separation on the runways. I don't think this is possible if the controller doesn't know which runway the airplane is using. So, I would say that without a doubt the controller has responsibility in this matter."

Not defending the controller but, nobody else was out there. Yes they are responsible for ensuring proper seperation from other a/c and grd equipment but, we as airmen are responsible for following direction as given and IF EVER in doubt to query the controller for clarification.

 

[CSR]

Part of the NTSB's job is to give recomendations to the FAA on how to improve safety, probably part of the reason the memo came out earlier in the year regarding the situation in the LEX control tower with one person doing both local and radar control. That being said the NTSB is simply trying to find ways to try and prevent this from happening in the future, I don't think they are necessarily placing blame on the controller.

 

[81Horse]

The NTSB will never pass up a chance to unload on the FAA.

 

[HoserASA]

Not defending the controller but, nobody else was out there. Yes they are responsible for ensuring proper seperation from other a/c and grd equipment but, we as airmen are responsible for following direction as given and IF EVER in doubt to query the controller for clarification.

But unfortunately, that lone controller was also functioning as the ground and local controller. So, as a ground controller he should have watched his traffic taxi out to the correct runway. The controller isn't responsible for what happened, the PIC and FO are, but he bears some responsibility too.

Hoser