Air traffic controller hands over the reins … to his kids
March 10, 2010 by Jared BilskiPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Latest news & views, Lighter-side
When it comes to bringing children into the office, some organizations actually encourage a more hands-on experience for the kids. Unfortunately for one gentleman, the Federal Aviation Administration isn’t one of them.
On two separate occasions at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport last month, an air traffic controller allegedly brought his young children into the control tower — and let them direct pilots on an air traffic control frequency.
To hear the actual transmissions, play the video here.
While the children probably thought they had the coolest dad in the world, the FAA weren’t amused.
The agency placed the controller and his supervisor on paid administrative leave while it investigates the incident, and FAA administrator Randy Rabbitt said in a statement, “This lapse in judgment not only violated FAA’s own policies but common sense standards for professional conduct.”
However, Dave Pascoe, the owner of the Web site www.liveatc.net, the site where the air traffic communications were posted, said the entire incident has been “blown out of proportion,” and added that there was “absolutely no security threat” because of the incident.
What do you think? Did the controller and his supervisor cross the line or is the FAA overreacting? Let us know in the Comments section.
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Tags: Air traffic controller, Control frequency, Dave Pascoe, FAA, Federal Aviation Administration, John F. Kennedy Airport, Randy Rabbitt
March 15th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
The FAA is overreacting here, no surprise. Listening to the transmissions, it is clear that the dad was right there watching junior and telling him what to say. It’s not like he put his son in the seat and then left for a coffee break. Use some common sense FAA and let this guy and his supervisor have their jobs back.
March 15th, 2010 at 4:07 pm
In one way the FAA is overreacting ..
But use of common sense by the air traffic controller and his supervisor might have said .. NO this is far too sensative a function to allow young children to take over ..
Surely there were other activities they could have assisted in than verbal communications ..
I’ve never understood people being placed on PAID administrative leave .. if the offense is so bad to not allow them to work .. then they shouldn’t be paid .. otherwise surely they can perform another less sensitive function for which they can earn their paycheck ..
March 16th, 2010 at 7:04 am
Regardless whether the Dad was right there or not, this was not a great judgement call on the Dad or supervisor when other lives are at stake. The kids could have done some other hands-on stuff at the job. I wouldn’t let my daughter come to work with me and fire a gun just because I’m a police officer. Let them and others learn from this experience when other people lives are at risk.
March 16th, 2010 at 7:07 am
For the most part I agree with Jeff. However, if I were a pilot responsible for 300 lives, and a child’s voice was giving me direction, my reaction time might be slowed since I would probably take time to consider the validity/soundness of the instructions before following them.
March 16th, 2010 at 7:32 am
It must have been “bring your child to work” day. Would you bring your child to the tenth floor of a construction site? Oh, but it’s okay…he had a hard hat on and had him strapped in a harness for OSHA purposes. What an idiot. Both of them deserve to be fired!
March 16th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
Paid administrative leave is nothing more than a vacation. It’s ridiculous! That’s like punishing someone who steals by allowing them to keep what they stole. What would they learn from that? Either come to work and do a different job while it’s investigated, or stay home without pay!!
August 6th, 2010 at 10:05 am
Bah, humbug! Clearing an aircraft for departure is a non-time-critical transmission, with little possibility for error. What are they going to get wrong, clearing the wrong aircraft? Besides, even if they did — it’s a simple matter to retract a statement and rebroadcast. Happens to controllers every once in a while, anyway. It used to be no big deal for a controller to take his kid(s) to work, (pre 9-11 hysteria) and to think that it is a safety hazard to have a controller use a proxy to give radio instructions is just silly.
To Joyce: if you are a police officer, and have never taken your daughter out to the range to practice firearms control, too bad for you. The majority of cops who have had a serious disaster with weapons and their kids are the ones who failed to teach their children to properly respect and care for the afore-mentioned. (No offense intended — you raise yours however you want to, it’s not my business, I’m just saying from a purely statistical point of view…)