air traffic control

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And the Airport Delays Begin...
 And the Airport Delays Begin... 
thanks, sequester

And the Airport Delays Begin...

Air traffic controllers, TSA workers, customs workers go on furlough

(Newser) - Here we go: Those promised airport delays , the result of furloughs caused by the sequester, have arrived. All three major NYC-area airports saw flights falling behind schedule yesterday and, as the Washington Post puts it, air traffic controllers "never caught up," with delays clocking in at between one...

Details Revealed of Near-Collision Close to JFK

Controller error almost caused catastrophe

(Newser) - Investigators have released chilling details of a near-catastrophe close to New York City's JFK airport early last year . An American Airlines Boeing 777 came within seconds of crashing into an Air Force C-17 cargo plane because of mistakes and miscommunications by air traffic controllers, the report found. The cargo...

Drunk Driver on Runway Shuts Philadelphia Airport

Kenneth Mazik forced plane to abort landing

(Newser) - Drunk drivers are a menace to people on the road, but this guy was a menace to people in the sky as well. Philadelphia Airport was closed for 35 minutes late yesterday morning after a man drove his Jeep through a fence and onto the airfield, forcing a passenger plane...

Congress OKs $63B to Update Air Control System

GPS technology will replace radar to control traffic

(Newser) - A bill to speed the update of the US air traffic control system from radar to one based on GPS technology and to open US skies to unmanned drone flights within four years received final congressional approval today. The bill passed the Senate 75-20, despite labor opposition to a deal...

Watchdog: Airport Errors Soaring

Runway 'incursions,' planes flying too close on the rise

(Newser) - The number of reported air traffic controller errors has jumped, along with the number of unauthorized planes, people, or vehicles on runways, according to a government report released yesterday. Incidents of planes flying too close to one another have nearly doubled in the last three years due to controller mistakes...

Newark International Airport the Least Punctual in America
 America's Worst Airport Is... 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

America's Worst Airport Is...

... Newark International Airport, take a bow

(Newser) - If you need to get somewhere on time, try not to fly through Newark. The Newark International Airport “has been the worst of the worst,” the Wall Street Journal reports, with a whopping 40 of America’s 100 most-delayed flights taking off or landing there, according to data...

Pilot Suspended for Broadcasting Crude Rant

Southwest pilot's mic was stuck as he complained about 'gays, grannies'

(Newser) - A Southwest Airlines pilot was suspended without pay after he accidentally broadcast a rant about his failure to score with the airline's flight attendants to dozens of air traffic controllers and fellow pilots. The airline hires a "continuous stream of gays and grannies and grandes," the man...

Air Traffic Controller Caught Watching Movie on the Job

For three minutes, planes heard Samuel L. Jackson instead of instructions

(Newser) - Note to air traffic controllers: Watching a DVD at work may help to keep you awake, but ultimately it's not much better than napping. A controller in Oberlin, Ohio, learned that lesson the hard way early Sunday, when his microphone was accidentally activated and began transmitting the audio from...

More Rest for Air Traffic Controllers: LaHood

Controllers must now have at least nine hours between shifts

(Newser) - Following reports of at least seven air traffic controllers falling asleep on the job , the US government announced today that controllers will have more time to rest between shifts under new work rules, but Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood made clear he won't tolerate sleeping on duty despite studies and...

FAA's Air Traffic Head Resigns After Sleep Incidents

Another controller nodded off in Nevada yesterday

(Newser) - The head of the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization resigned today, amid a wave of reports of air traffic controllers sleeping on the job . Hank Krakowski submitted his resignation this morning to FAA chief Randy Babbitt, the Washington Post reports, who promised a “top to bottom” review of the...

Four More Dozing Air Traffic Controllers Suspended

FAA will add controllers at 26 airports

(Newser) - The epidemic of snoozing air traffic controllers continues: Four more have been suspended for nodding off on the job, the FAA announced yesterday. One of those was a controller at Nevada's Reno-Tahoe International Airport, who slept for 16 minutes early yesterday as an airborne ambulance carrying a patient landed with...

Second Napping Controller Found ... With Blankie

Knoxville air traffic controller intentionally slept, FAA says

(Newser) - After a DC air traffic controller fell asleep on the job , the FAA learned of a second one who did the same thing—but this one did it intentionally. The Knoxville air traffic controller went so far as to find cushions and a blanket to use for his nap, Reuters...

Snoozing Controller's Excuse: 'Stuck Mike'

Supervisor who fell asleep on the job has been suspended

(Newser) - The air traffic supervisor who fell asleep early Wednesday at Reagan National Airport, forcing two planes to land on their own , was suspended yesterday. Federal officials say the veteran controller was also given a drug test, although the FAA will not confirm the testing or the results. The Washington Post...

Planes Landed as DC Controller Slept

FAA probing incident at Reagan National Airport

(Newser) - Two planes were forced to land without guidance or clearance from the control tower at Reagan National Airport outside Washington, DC, because the air traffic supervisor was asleep, federal officials say. Efforts to reach the supervisor—the only controller on duty at the time—failed, and the late-night flights early...

Air Traffic Control Errors Soar 81%

But FAA say it's just because more are being reported

(Newser) - The number of air traffic control errors reported to the FAA has taken off over the past three years, climbing 81% from 2007 to 2010. More than 1,800 incidents were reported last year, according to USA Today , including 43 classified as the kind of error most likely to cause...

Air Tower Kids Feel Bad for Getting Dad Fired

Brother-in-law: 'We all take our kids to work'

(Newser) - The 9-year-old twins who were caught helping their dad direct traffic at JFK are devastated that their pop lost his job—and are blaming themselves. "They feel it's their fault," their uncle, Larry Johnstone, tells the Daily News . "They're thinking, 'Daddy's in trouble because of me.'"...

Kid Directs Air Traffic at JFK
 Kid Directs Air Traffic at JFK 
brilliant ideas dept

Kid Directs Air Traffic at JFK

Air traffic controller apparently allows child to take reins

(Newser) - Take Your Child to Work Day reached a whole new level when an air traffic controller apparently let his kid direct traffic at New York’s JFK airport, spurring an FAA investigation. The child’s voice is heard making five transmissions in audio recordings obtained by Fox , as pilots respond—...

Northwest Pilots Clammed Up After Overshooting Airport

FAA transcript shows pair blaming silence on 'cockpit distractions'

(Newser) - Air traffic controllers who sought an explanation from the pilots of the "runaway plane," which overshot the Minneapolis airport by about 100 miles last month, got little satisfaction. After being out of radio contact for over an hour, controllers asked the crew of Northwest Flight 188 for a...

Agencies Squabble Over Controller's Role in Hudson Crash

(Newser) - The National Transportation Board's view of the events that caused last weekend's crash over the Hudson River doesn't jibe with the FAA's, the Wall Street Journal reports. The NTSB chronology released yesterday suggests that errors from air traffic controllers—one of whom was one the phone to his girlfriend at...

Air Controller Failed to Warn Hudson Pilot

Controller failed to inform him, NTSB report finds

(Newser) - An air traffic controller failed to warn the pilot of a plane in last weekend's mid-air collision over the Hudson River, the National Transportation Safety Board ruled today. Chatting on the phone, the controller did not inform the pilot that "there were several aircraft detected by radar in the...

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