Airport towers beefed up
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RENO, Nev. -- A napping air traffic controller who forced a medical flight to land unaided in Nevada brought swift reaction from the Federal Aviation Administration, which on Wednesday added a second overnight controller at 26 airports and a radar facility. The move came after several other recent incidents of controllers sleeping during their shifts.
The controller at Reno-Tahoe International Airport was out of communication for about 16 minutes when the aircraft carrying at least three people was landing about 2 a.m. Wednesday, the FAA said. No injuries were reported.
"This is absolutely unacceptable," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. "The American public trusts us to run a safe system. Safety is our No. 1 priority, and I am committed to working 24/7 until these problems are corrected."
It was the second case this week of a controller being suspended for sleeping on the job. A controller at Boeing Field-King County International in Seattle fell asleep during his morning shift Monday and was suspended, the FAA said. He was already facing disciplinary action for sleeping on two separate occasions during an early-evening shift in January, the agency said.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association has warned against putting controllers alone on shifts and assigning tiring work schedules.
Among the new controllers the FAA will add is another on the midnight shift at Allegheny County Airport in West Mifflin. FAA spokesman Jim Peters said two controllers will be on duty at the county airport for the midnight shift. He said the addition was not the result of any control-tower problems there. "We're adding staff just to ensure we have the additional resources in place to handle traffic," he said.
The FAA is making no changes at Pittsburgh International Airport, where four controllers, including a manager, are on duty from 10:15 p.m. to 6:15 a.m. Two controllers work in the radar room and two in the tower, both in the same building.
The Pittsburgh airport typically has arrivals and departures until 11:30 p.m. and then arrivals until about 1 a.m. The rest of the night is relatively quiet until arrivals and departures start to pick up again about 4:30 a.m.
First Published April 14, 2011 12:00 am
