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...
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.
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.
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.
Still waiting for the harsh statement. The subject staff hiring history might be of interest. Are they recent hires, products of the new FAA hiring policies that may not discriminate on the basis of ability? Have they been in the system for a while and shuffled off to where they may cause less damage? The FAA investigation report should make interesting reading.
The guys in the Control Tower are there for a reason, and that's to control the movement of aircraft, both in the air and on the ground at or near the airfield where they work. There's no excuse for sleeping on the job, let alone allegedly using a controlled substance. Frank, you might be a proud old dinosaur, but I'd rather fly into your airport. By the way Sparkie, there's probably twice as many soles as people on the plane. i think you mean " souls ". Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year to you two and all the other Flightaware members out there.
Ugh... Good catch... You are exactly right... But now that I think about it...For that Charge they would probably use Souls, but for a Drug related Incident and Looking back, I would like to see him charged for each "Soles" On board.... :) Good catch, My Bad! LOL!
Prosecutors tend to pile on charges in hopes something will stick or to encourage a plea bargain. Using soles over souls would double the charge count! You may have started something <not necessarily aviation related>.
LOL... I love it... Just imagine how many soles could be lost in an accident. I mean really, most of those shoes would be worthless after an even like that. And if there are a lot of Ladies (Go a head and flame me) there may be 6 or 7 pairs for each passenger :)
It comes down to the controlling body in the end, I have worked shift in the past,(not in this industry) the schedules have to be structured to give the appropriate rest periods to the workers, it is a tough ask. Easy to work a 9 to 5 and point the finger. No sympathy for the drug offender though.
Hate to see these two give the ATC profession such a black eye. My son is a Air Traffic Controller and a pilot/CFI with instrument and multiengine ratings. I have never witnessed when flying with him or when listening to him when he is in the tower/radar to be unprofessional. When it comes to flying or work he is 100% all business. But at an early age of 14 our neighbor who is a airline pilot, with over 20,000 hours, took him under his wing so to speak and taught him the no nonsense approach to flying. So I truly believe if your "teachers" are professional, no nonsense you will be to.
used to pull graveyard shifts once a week in tower.. one man operation at the time... routinely slept but turned volume on all devices to high...... never missed a call... but...probably not the smartest thing I did... was a routine practice at our tower...
I wish I could say I was surprised, but it seems like every industry is getting more lax on different things. I hope this sends wake up calls to others that this is not an acceptable practice for either controller. I sense that these 2 will soon see the wrongful ways that they have taken.
Age old problem. Little used airport at night, one controller, bored. Air carrier ops have a requirement for CFR to be available, private ops. not so much. Used to fly in and out of a tower controlled airport, VFR and IFR, night and day. Tower ops limited hours and outside them you just announce intentions on the MF, go ahead shoot the approach and land. If the w/x was down to minimums you already had your missed approach instructions from the app controller.
Ah the holier than thou gang of drinkers, yeah? Put Snoop behind the wheel, before you trust someone drinking off another hangover. The laws about recreational use of anything are moot here. We're talking about people being ON THE JOB. As James Carlson says, it's the same as alcohol and in many cases even "less bad" than what Big Pharm is shoving in us.
I'm impressed you shrug at the fact that MJ use impairs IQ, inhibits cognitive development, and development of unborn whose pregnant mother is using...all just a few of the established reasons the federal government just (again) refused to remove it from its Class I drug classification.
Where are the peer-reviewed studies backing up your 'facts'- or are they assertions? Until recently they have blocked any studies on the subject. That is changing albeit slowly, as evidenced by the recent study on THC effect on seizures at the U of Alabama. The effects you mention are also well documented with alcohol. Just saying.
You're in the wrong forum T Economou, and I can assure you of one thing, you won't be able to hold your own IN the correct forum. You should be more concerned with Fluoride if you want to talk about damage to our IQ. You can choose to not drink alcohol, or consume marijuana, but unless you live in the middle of nowhere and are on a well, you can NOT avoid Fluoride which even China has outlawed, and is kind enough to send to the U.S.
An ATC shouldn't be "on" ANYTHING that will impair their impact in the tower. If it's prescribed meds, then that's tough. Find something else to do.
I was impressed by the relatively responsible reporting of this most unfortunate event.
I trust those of us who are directly involved in aircraft operations know the only reason this is "newsworthy" is because it is so far from the reality of normal every day ATC operations.
In slightly more than a "few years" of operating aircraft in and out of isolated airports at all hours, I personally have NEVER found a tower operator to be anything less professional.
For those of you who are not informed of aircraft operations, of course it really dosnt matter if no-one is on duty in a control tower even at busy airports, or even if there is no control tower at all. Unless, of course, the weather is bad. In that case it still dosnt matter, since everyone will be IFR. That was not the case here.
Let me explain. Airplanes have two-way radios. People who command airplanes are trained in proceedures as to what to do, when there is no control tower. The folks in the air at the time obviously followed the FAR's. ( Federal Air Regulations).
So - yes...this was a newsworthy situation only because it was so unusual, but, in the real world of aviation, well....as we say in "Spainish" ..."MAS NICHT" !
Still just as irritating and condescending -- "Let me explain. Airplanes have two-way radios," even though you are using an alias and have dropped "Esq."
My post was "down-voted" ( we have a whole "nest" of "aviation enthusiasts" in here who obviously don't see the need for us who actually are involved in aviation ops, to use this forum to discuss aviation safety issues). Since it was down-voted, clearly a good number of folks don't want anything in that post discussed. Last time you were at a zoo, don't you recall the signs " DONT ANNOY THE ANIMALS"...?
Give it up, Peter. You created the animosity toward you, yet you still try to "defend yourself" against this "nest" of "aviation enthusiasts" with your alias. Go away. (Oh, did I use enough quotation marks?)
At a tower controlled airport how would you handle it? Just keep burning right on in? Not a real good idea as you have no way of knowing what has taken place. Call ATC and have them dispatch the cops, also have them call the tower and see if that wakes anyone up. But unless fuel was a problem would not land until I could contact someone.
I disagree with your assumption. There has only been ONE terrorist attack on an American airport - that was by the City Of Chicago against Meigs Field.
To my knowledge, no other American control tower has been attacked and taken over. Yes, of course if a Center or Approach Controller had handed me over to a tower, and there was no response, I agree I would get back on that frequency and let them know.
As for what to do after I landed, I do have mixed emotions about that - the consequences to the tower operator if I got local police involved...
That's a good consideration, but you don't know what might have happened. The controller might have merely fallen asleep, or he or she might have slipped and hit his head on the console. By calling the local authorities, you might be saving his or her life.