Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Take your kid to work day -- on a live radio at an ATC tower??

by B. N. Sullivan

I'm not big on writing about scandals, but this item really bothers me. Boston's Fox 25 ran an article today about a child communicating instructions to aircraft over an air traffic control frequency at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Think I'm joking? Check out this audio clip:




Yes, it's authentic. Fox 25 reports:
The FAA is certainly taking the matter seriously.

They have confirmed for FOX 25 that the recording we have with a child directing airplanes is an authentic recording from the JFK tower and an investigation is now underway.
The Fox 25 piece points out that the child appears to be supervised (!!) and that "the pilots respond enthusiastically" to him. Indeed, the kid does sound cute and precocious, but it's just not funny.

At one point in the audio, an adult voice is heard to say, "That's what you get guys when the kids are out of school. (laugh)"

Um, no. Just because the pilots on the other side of the conversation were good-natured about it doesn't make it right.

Fox 25 published this statement from the FAA:
Pending the outcome of our investigation, the employees involved in this incident are not controlling air traffic. This behavior is not acceptable and does not demonstrate the kind of professionalism expected from all FAA employees.
And this one from 'the union that represents air traffic controllers' [presumably NATCA]:
We do not condone this type of behavior in any way, and 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.
Taking your kid to work is one thing. Letting your kid pose as an air traffic controller, even briefly, is quite another. I have a feeling that we may be hearing a lot more more about this incident.

UPDATE Mar. 3, 2010: The FAA addressed this incident this morning with the following statement, issued as a press release:
The Federal Aviation Administration announced today that two employees at John F. Kennedy Airport Tower are on administrative leave following an incident last month when a child was permitted to talk with pilots on an air traffic control frequency.

“This lapse in judgment not only violated FAA’s own policies, but common sense standards for professional conduct. These kinds of distractions are totally unacceptable,” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. “We have an incredible team of professionals who safely control our nation’s skies every single day. This kind of behavior does not reflect the true caliber of our workforce.”

The two JFK Tower employees, a supervisor and an air traffic controller, are on administrative leave pending the outcome of an official FAA investigation into the incident which is already underway.

In addition, all unofficial visits to FAA air traffic control operational areas, such as towers and radar rooms, will be suspended during the investigation. The FAA Administrator has directed a team to conduct a full-scale review of air traffic control policies and procedures related to facility visitors.
Posted by B. N. Sullivan at 18:20
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8 comments:

  1. Funny, the pilots who were affected by it did not seem to have an issue with it and seemed to enjoy it. Frankly, as long as no one was jeopardized, I don't have an issue with it either.

    But then, I don't make a living in the tower cab or the cockpit.
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  2. The reaction to this story (including our usually lucid blooger's) is indicative of a society that is unable/unwilling to think independently of media, pressure and special interest group's shouting. The vast majority of the population is more concerned with the illusion of a subject (safety in this case) than common sense, reason or reality.

    I've over 14,500 total time with in excess of 12,000 flying for a major airline. I've seen and experienced, first hand, corruption involving the FAA at various levels. My paths have crossed Babbit's. I'm not at all surprised he's become the administrator. While he's a good enough guy, deep down he's a corporate officer loyal to himself and his paymasters.

    Upon hearing the recording in question it doesn't appear to be very busy. It's clear the local controler is very much in control. The boy was simply parroting the controler's words. Not much different from than if the boy pushed a button that said, "... contact departure. good day."

    I suspect the set-up that day allowed the controler to override the child if needed.

    Again from listening to the tapes, I heard absolutely nothing out of the ordinary apart from one of the voices being that of a supervised child. The FAA makes press releases and a big fuss about this in the interests of the illusion of safety.

    Fact: It's been over 25 years since NASA research has scientifically proven the devastating consequences of fatigue. Despite FAA public relation's statements this is being dealt with, there has been no effective regulation to protect the public from pilot fatigue. None.

    But the general public has the illusion all is well because, well ... Look how safe air transport is. The hassle to get through security ensures we are safe. It's safety first at (fill in the blank with FAA, airline, executive or PR employee).

    We want to be safe. We want to believe the illusion ... and most of us do.

    The flap about a child repeating what his dad told him to say to aircraft is similar to a lounge magician's misdirection. Reality -- the real dangers -- are elsewhere. The question is do you want to be soothed and feel all is well by a seedy lounge act or be aware of the fact a major problem is the agency assigned to regulating the airlines; the FAA. That's the unacceptable reality.
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  3. I love Babbitt's comment that this doesn't represent the quality of our work: that would be why there's an FAA maintenance inspector in the Southern region that thinks a 1954 Harvard Mk IV has a jet engine on it; maybe his kid knows better.

    The FAA is SO worried about safety, what could have happened here... but yet NOTHING has been done for how many decades on crew fatigue and duty time? It took how many years to get the Whitlow interpretation that at least gets us, kinda, 8 hours rest in any 24 (assuming the hotel van is running, since "travel of a local nature" doesn't count as duty).

    What happend to Colgan's POI, the one that blew the whistle and was relieved of his position, before the BUF accident?

    JD was right, it's an illusion because most of you buy what the airline companies and media sell you. If you really knew what went on, you'd never get on an airplane again.
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  4. Thank you all for your comments. I appreciate your observations.

    To my mind, the issue at hand is distraction (real and potential). For example, according to FAA rules, cell phones, and other 'personal electronic devices' are not allowed in an ATC cab because they are deemed to be potential sources of distraction for ATC personnel while they work. The rules are so strict that even weather radios -- the ones pre-programmed to receive alerts from the National weather Service -- were prohibited (which I thought was dumb, by the way, and I said so on this blog back in 2007 - twice).

    But if the intention of such rules is to prevent ATC distractions, isn't it inconsistent (at the very least) that a child should be allowed to do what this child was allowed to do?

    Then there is the 'slippery slope' effect to consider. In the present instance, the child appears to be mostly reciting departure clearances. Probably no big deal in the broader scope of things. But what if the next kid who is allowed to role-play on a live ATC channel decides to ad lib? What if a kid is allowed to 'recite' transmissions about approach speeds, flight level changes, etc. -- take your pick -- and says the wrong thing by mistake? Sure, maybe ATC-Dad could intervene quickly with the correct info to override what the kid said, but why should this be allowed to happen in the first place?

    In any case, I think most people can agree that this incident is an example of poor judgment on the part of the ATC, and the supervisor for allowing it.

    Regarding the broader issues of FAA regulation, I, too, believe that much of what is put forth for public consumption on these issues is fluff and window dressing and official CYA talk. Regarding the issues having to do with fatigue, flight time, duty time, etc., I, too, really wish the FAA would get on the stick and take the advice of the NTSB (for starters) and re-visit these issues in a meaningful way, based on science, not politics and/or money. Even after the the attention the press gave to the smoking hole left by the Colgan crash at BUF, the wheels of change still creak along with insufficient concrete progress.

    Meanwhile, back to the present topic, let's hope that kids brought to work by ATCs are kept off the radio henceforth.
    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete
  6. As a pilot for a major airline flying from JFK I have to say this is the most overblown aviation story in history. Yeah the controller made a bad call but was there a major breach of safety? Aboslutley not.

    As JD Jones pointed out the FAA is in no position to get so high and mighty about this when they have repeatedly failed in there basic duty time and time again and those failures have cost hundreds of lives.
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  7. A Rule has been broken.....The line says it all.....you can take your kid to work,but don't let the kid do your work.
    although quite amusing,but a rule has been broken here.
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  8. I'm going to have to side with those who think this story is incredibly overblown. Someone mentioned what if the kid went off script. I think that experienced pilots would know if something sounded off and would wait accordingly for instructions which would obviously come from the adults who are obviously there and on top of the situation.

    And I agree, this story is all about the appearance of safety. Of course, just my opinion.
    ReplyDelete

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