Asleep At the…zzzzzz

Forget the budget crisis; the potential end of the world; the wars in the Middle East. Far more important concerns are in the limelight today. Yet another air traffic controller has fallen asleep at yet another American airport leaving the arriving piece of metal literally hanging in the air for landing instructions. This time in Reno, Nevada. Is such a thing becoming a trend?

According to Airport Transport Intelligence:

The episode follows several other high profile controller incidents, including a lone controller at the Washington National airport control tower who could not be reached by several incoming airline flights for a period of about 15 minutes just after midnight on 23 March. That controller has also been suspended pending the resultsof the FAA investigation.

The agency says it is investigating two additional incidents of "unresponsive" air traffic controllers over the past two weeks, findings that emerged from an ongoing review of staffing and scheduling for controllers, launched after the National incident. Controllers in both cases have been suspended while the agency investigates.

A controller monitoring local traffic at the Boeing Field/King County airport in Washington State fell asleep during the morning shift of 11 April while two other controllers on duty in the airport tower cab worked arrivals and departures. "The controller is already facing disciplinary action for falling asleep on two separate occasions during the early shift on 6 January 2011," the FAA says.

On 29 March, two controllers working the midnight shift the Preston Smith International airport in Lubbock, Texas, "failed to hand off control of a departing aircraft to the Fort Worth air route traffic control centre (ARTCC)", says the FAA. "It also took repeated attempts for a controller at the Fort Worth ARTCC to reach the Lubbock controllers to hand off inbound aircraft."

Is it truly that boring to watch little blips on a monitor for hours – and hours? Hey, wake up! I’m writing to you!

No wonder most UFO sightings go unnoticed on radar! For future reference I think the FAA should interview only those who have sleeping disorders (but not Narcolepsy) and love amphetamines. That’ll solve the problem. Or maybe not.

I recall meeting with an old friend years ago who, on that day, was on her way to receiving her air traffic controller license with hopes of working at LAX. She was so thrilled and jazzed at the prospect of having such a unique job that she couldn’t stop filling her nose with a little pick-me-up every 20 minutes during our visit. I knew right then that if she got the job I would never fly in or out of LAX again. Or try not to.

Of course, that was during a time when random drug tests weren’t required. Today is another story with a tighter leash on those who rule the skies from their obviously too-comfy chairs. Nevertheless, I still don’t trust the whole flying thing in general and certainly not with my travel history.

The last time I flew into LAX the plane I was in almost landed on top of another plane that was not where it was supposed to be on the runway. That experience went down really well with everyone on board as our plane was diverted to circle over the Pacific for a few minutes until given the okay to try again.

As children on the plane enthusiastically Oooed and Awed at the beauty of the shimmering sea below, I was gripping the armrests and having an anxiety attack. I wasn’t overreacting, either. A week later another plane from the same airline landed on top of a parked and empty plane at LAX with no injuries to anyone other than the pilot’s ego and the airlines reputation. How such a feat was accomplished with no tragic consequences is definitely curious, but it did happen – and it barely made the news.

The recent on-the-ground mess between two planes colliding on the runway at JFK International Airport is another rare but real example of communication mishaps within the aviation system. Yes, yes, “statistics show” that flying is safer than any other form of travel. It’s true, although things up there in the air are becoming a bit hair-raising when ceilings rip open in-flight, and only after such events does the FAA demand more thorough inspections of ageing crafts.

Flying was once a fun and exciting adventure for me. I loved everything about it, and especially enjoyed flying at night. Something about being close to the moon’s glow bouncing off clouds and seeing the dots of city lights below felt otherworldly and dramatic. That romance soured quite quickly during a short flight in the 70’s when the plane I was in decided to avoid something else in the sky and deliberately pitched into a downward, heavily accelerated dive before desperately zooming up to stabilize before taking another unannounced dive under deliberate power.

The crying baby in the seat in front of me didn’t help the unexplained nightmare at all. I would look out the window and see lightning in the distance, almost expecting to see a strange being on the wing as happened in the classic Twilight Zone episode above this post. Other than the stormy sight, no one in my cabin knew what was going on because all of the stewards and stewardess' were nowhere to be found. I’ve always suspected they were quietly huddling in their private steward spaces in a group prayer. And no, we were never told what happened.

Most frequent fliers have numerous in-flight horror stories and yet they continue to get back on that saddle again like the troopers they are. Me? I like to keep my feet on the ground or on rail, thank you very much. After all, I’ve already been in two train wrecks, five car accidents, and I’m still standing.

By the way, if you ever see me at an airport terminal getting on a plane for which you have a ticket, I suggest you run the other way as fast as you can.