Air Controller Goes AWOL At Reagan Natl
The Wall Street Journal reports:
Federal air-safety officials are looking into why the lone air-traffic controller on duty at Washington's Reagan National Airport early Wednesday repeatedly failed to respond to pilots of two approaching aircraft, forcing both jetliners to land without clearance.
The veteran controller later acknowledged he may have been dozing, according to people familiar with the matter, just before and after midnight when the incoming jetliners were preparing to land.
Pilots of an American Airlines jet on final approach tried in vain to contact the tower. A few minutes later, a United Airlines jet, en route from Chicago, experienced the same problem, according to federal air-safety officials.
Both jets landed safely without establishing communications with the tower. But the unusual incident is bound to revive debate over controller and supervisory staffing levels at some of the nation's airports, and whether some controllers working particularly late or early shifts may be prone to fatigue.
The incident, which involved a supervisor who isn't a member of the controllers' union, prompted an immediate and sharp response from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
Mr. LaHood, whose agency oversees the Federal Aviation Administration, issued a statement late Wednesday saying he had "directed the FAA to place two air traffic controllers at Ronald Reagan Washington National airport's control tower on the midnight shift."
Historically the FAA chief is in charge of making public statements reacting to controller mistakes. But this time, it was Mr. LaHood, his boss, who took charge and ordered immediate changes. "It is not acceptable to have just one controller in the tower managing air traffic in this critical air space," the Secretary's statement said, adding that FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt has been asked "to study staffing levels at other airports around the country."
A spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board said the agency was looking into the incidents and collecting information to determine how to proceed.
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