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FAA: Child in air traffic tower talking to pilots 'not acceptable' - Twitchin Kitten - 03-03-2010
FAA: Child in air traffic tower talking to pilots 'not acceptable' <-- clicky to see video
Washington (CNN) -- The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating after an air traffic controller at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport brought his young child to work and allowed the child to communicate with planes, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN.
"Pending the outcome of our investigation, the employees involved in this incident are not controlling air traffic," the FAA said in a statement. "This behavior is not acceptable and does not demonstrate the kind of professionalism expected from all FAA employees."
However, Dave Pascoe, owner of liveatc.net, a Web site where the recording of the air traffic communications is posted, told CNN he believes the incident is "ridiculous" and has been "blown out of proportion."
In the recording, a child can be heard saying "Jet Blue 171, cleared for takeoff."
A man is then heard telling the plane, "Here's what you get, guys, when the kids are out of school."
The pilot chuckles and says, "Wish I could bring my kid to work." The same pilot later tells the child he did an "awesome job."
During the recording, which is dated February 17, the child also speaks to an apparent Air Mexico flight.
The source confirmed the incident to CNN. A second controller who was supposed to be in charge at the time "should be making sure that things like this don't happen," the source said.
The controller who brought the child to work later reported that he had done so, the source said. The controllers involved have been assigned to other duties pending the outcome of the investigation.
But Pascoe said, "Nobody in the aviation community felt like this was anything more than a noble thing, that a father would take his kid to work.
"And when you listen to any of the recordings, the situation in the tower is very controlled. There is no hint ... that anyone was too busy or anyone was interrupting the planes. The kid cleared two airplanes. It was very controlled and I don't think safety was compromised, nor should anyone be disciplined for this," said Pascoe, who is also a pilot.
The recording was from a network of receivers, he said, but couldn't reveal the source. The site, he said, exists for pilot education and sometimes other curious parties listen in. There was "absolutely no security threat" posed by the incident, he said.
"I have every belief that they'd make sure there were additional eyes there," Pascoe said. "Only the best of the best work at JFK tower and they are the best at what they do."
"It was one incident where a kid was up in the control tower," he said. "If you know anything about aviation, you know that the air traffic control towers are highly supervised. JFK is highly supervised. It's not just one controller controlling the runway. Supervisors are there and multiple people are there making sure by looking through binoculars and at radar ... a father was taking a child to work and let the kid clear planes for take off and now the world thinks it's an unsafe place."
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the union representing controllers, said in a statement, "We do not condone this type of behavior in any way.
"It is not indicative of the highest professional standards that controllers set for themselves and exceed each and every day in the advancement of aviation safety," association spokesman Doug Church said in the statement.
But "this is a ridiculous story," Pascoe said. "... It was blown out of proportion. Considering how skittish the public is, maybe it shouldn't be done, but I think there should be a procedure to allow visitors in the control tower."
RE: FAA: Child in air traffic tower talking to pilots 'not acceptable' - ralgith - 03-03-2010
Man, talk about making a mountain out of a mole hill! Sounds to me like its a bunch of horse manure. I would have no problems with that at all.
RE: FAA: Child in air traffic tower talking to pilots 'not acceptable' - Twitchin Kitten - 03-03-2010
Bullshit. Some jobs you don't fuck around with, even when you're being 'careful'. Planes full of people are not something you can just say "whoops", we'll fix that and no one will know the difference.
If something did go terribly wrong, even without ANY fault from the kid giving clearance to land, you know they're going to eat shit over that, an inquiry and all kinds of other shit made out of it.
It's so not worth the trouble and it's a good thing nothing bad happened to create the shit storm that would follow if it did.
RE: FAA: Child in air traffic tower talking to pilots 'not acceptable' - lady cop - 03-03-2010
i agree with TK. that's why i never "took my kid to work". some things are simply not appropriate due to murphy's law.
RE: FAA: Child in air traffic tower talking to pilots 'not acceptable' - Flamethrower - 03-03-2010
Seems to me that the child simply spoke the words he/she was instructed to verbatim. There was no incorrect commands, instructions or language so where is the problem? Besides, protocol dictates that all voice traffic be repeated back for confirmation so even if there was an error it would have been caught and corrected.
The father simply let the kid speak which I'm sure gave them a real thrill and may be the inspiration for the kid to become an air traffic controller in the future. Now don't thay have a bit of a time getting enough quality people interested in this profession? Would this not be a great recruiting tool for a future generation? I think it is.
Sounds like a bunch of scared rabbits running around with the chicken little syndrome at full intensity!
RE: FAA: Child in air traffic tower talking to pilots 'not acceptable' - ralgith - 03-03-2010
(03-03-2010, 01:46 PM)Twitchin Kitten Wrote: Bullshit. Some jobs you don't fuck around with, even when you're being 'careful'. Planes full of people are not something you can just say "whoops", we'll fix that and no one will know the difference.
If something did go terribly wrong, even without ANY fault from the kid giving clearance to land, you know they're going to eat shit over that, an inquiry and all kinds of other shit made out of it.
It's so not worth the trouble and it's a good thing nothing bad happened to create the shit storm that would follow if it did.
Except that nothing DID go wrong.
(03-03-2010, 01:51 PM)Flamethrower Wrote: Seems to me that the child simply spoke the words he/she was instructed to verbatim. There was no incorrect commands, instructions or language so where is the problem?
The father simply let the kid speak which I'm sure gave them a real thrill and may be the inspiration for the kid to become an air traffic controller in the future. Now don't thay have a bit of a time getting enough quality people interested in this profession? Would this not be a great recruiting tool for a future generation? I think it is.
Sounds like a bunch of scared rabbits running around with the chicken little syndrome at full intensity!
Thank you. Points well said.
Now, while I never finished getting my license I've taken a few piloting lessons. Admittedly in small planes, I would never want to fly something the size of a building anyways. However, we don't know the age of this child, or anything else. And I STILL have no problem with this. This is how you get children involved; as Flamethrower pointed out. I "flew" the first time in THIRD GRADE. Sure, it was a 6 seater and the pilot continued to operate the rudder... but his hands were off the control column a couple inches. Obviously he could have grabbed it long before I could have done anything drastic enough to threaten the plane, but it gave me my love of flying. Everything sounded responsible and well controlled to me. This is simply paranoid people freaking out. Think about it, if the kid had started babbling and wasn't giving clear concise commands in the PROPER format the planes WOULD not have obeyed. There was absolutely no danger. None. More power to the man for taking his kid to work and teaching him about the job.
EDIT TO ADD: Also, they clearly state in the video that the planes had been warned beforehand, which means that what I said above about the kid giving properly formatted and concise and clear commands would be even more strictly paid attention to.
RE: FAA: Child in air traffic tower talking to pilots 'not acceptable' - Twitchin Kitten - 03-03-2010
Apparently the FAA wasn't too thrilled with this situation. Distraction to other ATC operators is a big concern and allowing your children to do your job is against company policy.
It's not the first time it happened as well. With a major airport like JFK, it's just plain stupid. The ATC and his supervisor are on investigative leave.
http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/national/child-directs-airplanes-over-radio-transmissions-at-jfk-airport
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,587801,00.html?test=latestnews
RE: FAA: Child in air traffic tower talking to pilots 'not acceptable' - Loricat - 03-03-2010
It was wrong to bring the child. There is no way that man was able to give his full attention to his job and watch his kid at the same time. Good thing nothing did happen. But if something did - even something small, people would have been suing all over the place. Let the kid visit for 10-15 minutes to see where Daddy works. But the child should not be there when he is on duty. It's not an appropriate place for a child.
RE: FAA: Child in air traffic tower talking to pilots 'not acceptable' - Twilla - 03-03-2010
That little monster should be locked up in juvie for the next 10 years.
RE: FAA: Child in air traffic tower talking to pilots 'not acceptable' - Havoc - 03-03-2010
This is the most stupid thing I have heard since mock cloesed down, these controllers need to be fired the airport shut down and turned into a parking lot.