"Control Tower Unresponsive to 2 Planes in Washington"

[Stinky The Clown]

Control Tower Unresponsive to 2 Planes in Washington

Two passenger airliners landed at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington without clearance or guidance from the airport’s control tower early Wednesday, and officials were looking into the possibility that the air traffic controller on duty had fallen asleep.

One of the planes, an American Airlines Boeing 737 from Dallas, approached the airport around midnight but aborted its landing and circled the airport after pilots got no response from the tower. About 15 minutes later, a United Airlines Airbus 320 from Chicago also tried unsuccessfully to establish contact with the tower.

Both planes made contact with a regional tower that guided them in, and both landed safely, said Peter Knudson, a National Transportation Safety Board spokesman.

Mr. Knudson said that it was unclear why the Reagan controller had not responded, and that the agency was looking into the possibility that the person had fallen asleep. In a statement, Laura Brown, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the agency was looking into “staffing issues and whether existing procedures were followed appropriately.”

>snip<

More here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/us/24airport.html

Our local nooz has been reporting that it was confirmed the controller was asleep.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. There should ALWAYS be more than one person on duty.

No matter what time of day.

Just to prevent this sort of event.

Good god.

[TheDebbieDee]

10. Maybe they were both out on a smoke break!

[applegrove]

11. Gosh yes. That was my first thought. They need a staff of at least 3 on at night.

[WhiteTara]

13. You socialist! That costs money

we only need 1 pair of eyes! Get over yourself that you should want safety! That costs money!
:sarcasm:

My first thought was that the equipment failed; but of course, the lone guy probably nodded out for just those few minutes. The body clock will get you every time, circadian rhythms change around midnight.

[Tansy_Gold]

2. Why does the phrase "Reagan controller" make me want to

throw something?

[Stinky The Clown]

4. Kinda thick on the irony, n'est-ce pas?

The airport named for the doddering old fool who killed the controllers union. :)

[blondeatlast]

7. Because Reagan canned all the professional air-traffic controllers back in the day?

Do I win a prize?

Yeah, that simple two-word phrase kinda jumps, doncha think?

[notadmblnd]

3. one person working in the control tower at RR Airport?

Why does that sound odd to me?

[Stinky The Clown]

6. According to the local nooz, that hasn't been confirmed yet.

They're "investigating the staffing" right now.

[Toucano]

5. Poor bastard probably has to work 3 jobs.

Thanks, Capitalism!

[arcane1]

15. Yep! and the pilots are probably broke too! n/t

[stellanoir]

8. I can think of no airport more aptly named more aptly for

less than fully alert airport controllers to be . . . ahhh. . . umm. . . so attentive.

Can you . . . ?

[Stinky The Clown]

9. Dontcha love irony?

I do! :)

[stellanoir]

12. I resemble that remark.

'tis my nectar and my ambrosia truly.

:hi:

[bettyellen]

16. :-)

[pa28]

14. Was this guy working the ground frequency too?

If I'm interpreting correctly it's amazing that you would have only one controller working both at a major airport even late at night. Maybe he was just exhausted.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

17. IIRC Reagan shuts down after midnight...maybe he just went home a little early

[pa28]

18. Re-reading the article that might be the case. He went home early figuratively speaking.

The poor guy was apparently alone, I'm guessing the pilots tried the ground frequency after checking the radios and got nothing. Center called by phone and got nothing.

We'll have to see the final breakdown but it looks like this guy was manning the whole ship by himself and just reached the limit.

I sure hope they look at the staffing angle here rather than just making scapegoat out of this controller. I'm sure he feels terrible about the episode and I really hope he does not lose his job in the name of understaffing. Air traffic control people are smart, dedicated professionals and anybody assigned to that particular airport would have earned elite status in the business.

[tkmorris]

19. This is very hard to believe

I worked in the tower at a Naval Training Base for new pilots (NAS Whiting Field, north of Pensacola) and there was NEVER less than 3 ATC's manning it. This is at a small airfield servicing relatively few planes. You're telling me Ronald Reagan National Airport had one freaking guy in the tower? I don't buy it. Not for a second do I buy it. I know that Air Traffic Controllers at commercial airports are overworked, underpaid, and generally shat upon (thanks to this airport's namesake!) but I simply cannot believe they ever leave a single person in the tower alone to bring in the planes. If that is truly the case I may have to reconsider the charm of trains.

[Stinky The Clown]

20. TV Nooz this morning is reporting that only one ATC is regularly scheduled at this airport

Pretty amazing, huh?

LaHood says he wants the scheduled changed immediately to add a second controller.

[Brickbat]

22. That's terrible. Whoever made that decision is probably the same one who OK'd the decision that

trains don't need more than one person running them.

[MrMickeysMom]

21. Ground Control to Major FUCK UP!

I'm thinking... Reagan busted this union apart and the obvious irony of having leaving 165 up in the air left holding the controls.

This is major new that made the national briefs on page A-6....

Anyone gonna run with this?

Oh, and FUCK YOU IN YOUR AFTERLIFE, RONALD RAY-GUN.

[Blue_Tires]

23. another possibility posted at a-net

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/5099681/

ATCGOD From United States of America, joined Aug 2006, 638 posts, RR: 3
Reply 11, posted Wed Mar 23 2011 23:40:38 your local time (8 hours 33 minutes 35 secs ago) and read 557 times:



First off, I am a controller at Boise Airport in Idaho. We work 2 person mids in the tower. One person works the approach control and one person works the Tower. It's happened before that a person comes upstairs on the mid, drops off their stuff (FOB that allows entry into the tower included) and sometime during the night walks out to go to the bathroom. They are, of course, let in by the other controller. So it does happen.

I thought one person mid-shifts went away after the Comair accident in 2006. Another interesting point made in the article is that a supervisor works the midnight shift at DCA. Kinda surprising that they'd do that. Supervisors never work the mid-shift here...maybe at larger airports that's a different story, but not from what I've heard.

The reason (as I understand) that our airport is a 24 hour facility is because some major airlines don't allow their jets to land without a functioning control tower. Sometimes, especially during the summer, there is flow going into the airports back east and we occasionally get United or Delta coming in at 0400L.

It can't be that the controller fell asleep...the article says that they were calling them on the phone, shout line, etc. You have to be deaf not to hear any of that. It clearly points to being out of the tower cab. Anyways, just thought I'd post my $.02

K