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Boise air traffic controller who couldn’t be reached fell asleep
Police officers who entered the Boise Airport air traffic control tower after pilots could not reach controllers by radio on Nov. 19 found that one controller had fallen asleep and a second one had left the tower and smelled of marijuana, according to reports released Friday afternoon by the Boise Police Department. (www.idahostatesman.com) さらに...
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Standby for a harsh statement from a retired air traffic controller: These two "controllers" are losers and should be fired. But in today's FAA I know that'll never happen. They exhibited no pride in their profession, and one of them even considered the fact that his partner wasn't answering the phone as, "no big deal". Yes, I know my opinion will be in the minority and I acknowledge that I am a proud old dinosaur.
me too, the idea of having 2 work the graveyard is to avoid these situations... as below... used to work alone on those cold quiet nights
My brother was an ATC in the Navy. Adak was his last duty station....Now THAT is cold and quiet...
I agree 100%, They should not only be fired, but the one under influence should be turned over to the authorities for Prosecution. For starters, 1 count Endangerment to Human Life for each sole on board who could not contact the tower! I do not know who down voted this, but our ATC needs to be held to the same standards as our crews in the Pointy End of the A/C.
Frank, well said. I'm retired airline, and have worked with many, many professional ATC employees over the radio, and even met a few (back before 2001), when they would jump-seat on observation flights. Post 9/11 that program was stopped...and it's a shame. Pilots and ATC professionals should know how best to work together....as long as the professionalism remains, of course....knowing each others' pressures and responsibilities is a start to understanding....
FWIW, it says both of them passed a drug test. Since those things can usually pick up someone having used pot for the past month or so, I'm going to reason that while the controller in question may not have been smoking himself, it certainly seems he may have been in the company of those who were right before he came in, which still makes me question his judgement given his responsibility.
As to everyone who is coming down on the guy who dozed off, I welcome anyone to work these rotating shifts for a year and see what it does to you. You grow accustomed to it, but you never adjust to it. You just take it for granted that you're going to be tired on your midshift after 3-4 hours and try to do your best to not nod off. But that's why we have two people in the area all the time, to guard against that occurrence. It has been my understanding that towers were supposed to operate the same way, so my guess is that the one who pulled up smelling of pot was supposed to have been at the facility the whole time, he may be facing discipline, clean drug test or not.
As to everyone who is coming down on the guy who dozed off, I welcome anyone to work these rotating shifts for a year and see what it does to you. You grow accustomed to it, but you never adjust to it. You just take it for granted that you're going to be tired on your midshift after 3-4 hours and try to do your best to not nod off. But that's why we have two people in the area all the time, to guard against that occurrence. It has been my understanding that towers were supposed to operate the same way, so my guess is that the one who pulled up smelling of pot was supposed to have been at the facility the whole time, he may be facing discipline, clean drug test or not.
Similar problem in the rail industry where engineer's & conductor's are on for twelve & off eight, on for twelve, off for eight, etc..... That's not saying there's eight hours of sleep but eight hours off duty. Throw in weird hours & sleeping in strange beds not @ home, trying to decipher signals staring into a blinding (usually morning) sun after eight hours of fitful sleep...Rail crews falling asleep is the primary cause of fatal head on collisions making the nightly news.
