Page 220 - Controller News Today

April 11th, a controller in washington state, suspended for sleeping on the job. >> this is ridiculous. im not going to sit by and let it happen. >> reporter: secretary lahood urged effectively immediately, two controllers on duty at any time. that was nbcs tom costello reporting. the transportation security administration, now says its reviewing passenger screening procedures for young passengers. showing the enhanced pat-down of this 6-year-old girl. congress is now demanding an explanation ...

Controller was asleep. the pilots call signal you will hear is cheyenne lifeguard. 2:00 a.m. in the skies over reno. >> lifeguard -- >> reporter: the pilot of this medevac plane with a seriously ill patient onboard urgently needed to land. >> reno tower -- >> reporter: no answer from the tower, but radar controllers in northern california were listening. >> were going to call him on the phone lines. >> all right. well circle. >> reporter: despite phone calls to the reno tower, still no answer. f...

Huge fine after his anti-gay slur on the basketball court. the leagues uproar, and now kobes explanation. >> looking ford hearing that one. also coming up, kate middletons huge impact on the fashion industry. her amazing ability to set trends. just like lady di, as the world watches what she wears. but first, there are even more questions this morning about passenger safety, after three more air traffic controllers were found sleeping on the job. >> the government has added a second controll...

Couldnt wait any long. >> reporter: the faa said that the lone controller on duty, two years on the job, admitted that he had fallen asleep. >> you do not put money over safety. you dont do that. the public understands that. >> reporter: this is just the most recent case of controllers sleeping on the job. on march 23rd, two commercial flights had to land on their own at washingtons reagan international airport. the controller was suspended for sleeping. another controller willfully slept while ...

On. if the captain gets to the bottom of it, were fine. if it stops here we have two sleeping on the job instead of one. >> it helps to put in perspective exactly what were talking about in terms of this time line. tom costello did a great job outlining some of the recent problems. let me play that for you and well talk about it on the other side. >> were going to work 24/7 until we correct this problem. this kind of outrageous behavior will not be tolerated by the faa. people expect to land at ...

>> okay were going to call them on their phone lines. >> all right, well circle some more. we got a pretty sick patient. we just may have to land. >> reporter: the small plane wits sick patient continues to circle and circle the airport. finally the pilot of the lifeguard flight, a designation for urgent medical missions, cannot wait any longer. 16 minutes have gone by. >> were going to need to land. >> lifeguard, youre tango november roger. at your own risk. >> this kind of outrageous, ridiculo...

And that it was used out of frustration in the heat of the game, and he claims his words do not reflect his feelings toward the gay community. he personally apologized to at least one gay rights leader and will be meeting with other gay rights advocates. every air traffic controller tower now in the country has at least two controllers on the job during the overnight hours. the change was announced after yet another incident where a controller nodded off while a plane was trying to land. but e...

Own risk and last reported wind was calm. >> were told the medevac patient is okay. the faa says the controller admits he had fallen asleep. the controller has been suspended. joining me now is an aviation expert, a pilot and former chief lawyer for the faa. lets talk about whats happening here. 27 air-traffic control towers around the country will now have more than one person. should that have always been the case? >> well, in some cases, yes, tamron. but, you know, weve had this resignation n...

>> all right. well circle some more. >> despite phone calls to the reno tower, still no answer. finally the medevac pilot told california controllers he couldnt wait any longer. >> we got a pretty sick patient. we may just have to land. >> okay. roger. landing is at your own risk. last reported wind was calm. >> the faa says the controller two years on the job admits he fell asleep. >> this is outrageous, tom. we will not tolerate this kind of activity in control towers in america. >> the proble...

Knoxville controller willfully slept while five planes landed without his help. we learned of another two cases. march 29th the faa suspended two controllers in lubbock for failing to answer radio calls from other controllers about air traffic. april 11th a controller at boeing field in washington state suspended for sleeping on the job. >> nobody likes to work the late shift or overnight shift, but whats going on here? why are so many of these guys falling asleep? >> because we have sloppy mana...