An air traffic controller has been suspended for watching a movie when he was supposed to be monitoring aircraft, deepening the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) embarrassment following at least five cases of controllers sleeping on the job.
In the latest incident, the controller was watching a movie on a DVD player early on Sunday morning while on duty at a regional radar center near Cleveland, Ohio, that handles high-altitude air traffic, the FAA said in a statement on Monday.
The controller’s microphone was inadvertently activated, transmitting the audio of the movie — the 2007 crime thriller Cleaner, starring Samuel L. Jackson — for more than three minutes to all the planes in the airspace that the controller was supposed to be monitoring, the agency said.
The controller’s microphone became stuck in the transmit position, preventing him from hearing incoming radio calls or issuing instructions to planes during the incident, the agency said.
The controller was alerted to the mishap when he was contacted by a military pilot.
Besides the controller, the FAA also has suspended a manager at the Oberlin center.
In all now, the FAA has suspended eight controllers and supervisors since late last month.
In five of the cases the controllers allegedly fell asleep. In another case, the FAA is investigating why two controllers in Texas were unresponsive to radio calls.
Nearly all the incidents occurred during overnight shifts when traffic is light and people naturally have trouble staying awake.
The incidents have shaken FAA officials, made air traffic controllers the butt of late night comedians’ jokes and raised public jitters about the safety of air travel.
FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said early on Monday, before the agency had disclosed the incident near Cleveland, that he was “infuriated” that air traffic controllers have been caught snoozing on the job.
“None of us in this business can ... tolerate any of this,” Babbitt said. “It absolutely has to stop.”
Babbitt was at a regional -radar center near Atlanta with Paul -Rinaldi, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the union that represents controllers. The pair met with about 50 controllers and other FAA employees as they kicked off a nationwide tour of air traffic facilities aimed at sending a message as much to the public as to controllers that unprofessional behavior won’t be tolerated.
The day before the Cleveland incident a controller fell asleep while working an overnight shift at busy regional radar facility in Miami that handles high-altitude traffic for Florida, parts of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean.
The incidents have raised concerns about work schedules that don’t allow controllers realistic opportunities for sleep.
The FAA forbids controllers from sleeping on the job, even during the 20-minute to 30--minute breaks they receive every few hours. Babbitt stood by that position on Monday.
Instead, the agency said it will require controllers to have an extra hour off between shifts — a minimum of nine hours instead of eight — to get more sleep.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number