You’ve heard about Act I, the American Airlines Boeing, which landed without the benefit of ATC guidance at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
You’ve heard about Act II, the United Airlines Airbus, which also landed without benefit of ATC guidance.
So why was the tower offline? Simple. The controller apparently fell asleep on duty. The supervisor was on duty alone that night
It is interesting and perhaps significant to note that the media is much more alarmed about this than most pilots seem to be. The midnight shift at many airports has minimal traffic and there is only one air traffic controller on duty. As was the case at Reagan National, Pilots have access to other air traffic towers. When failing to raise National, the two planes that landed on Wednesday contacted a nearby Warrenton Tower.
The controller is not a beginner. He’s been on the job at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport for 17 years. This was his 4th successive night on the 10 p.m. to 6 a.m shift. There’s no denying that he should not have fallen asleep, or that there should have been two controllers there. But there are some factors to consider.
The accident would have been a whole lot worse if there had not been established protocols for dealing with an airport deemed “uncontrolled.”
The first crew designated an advisory frequency. (Emergency procedures.)
The second flight crew was aware of the problem, having been informed via that frequency about the silent tower.
Washington noise abatement prevents all but a few midnight flights.
Yes it was a bad situation, but it could have been worse. It’s a good thing there were fall back procedures for the pilots to rely on. At least they never lost radar. And pilots are trained to land without ATC guidance, just in case something like this happens. And, after all, there are airports like Casa Grande, Arizona which are unmonitored and uncontrolled. Listen to the pilots in the audio below. They don’t sound at all stressed by the situation.
There are consequences that will be far reaching. A minimum of two controllers is going to be mandatory. The controller who fell asleep has been suspended and will be handled according to procedures in the Human Resource Policy Manual.
But there may be more to come after this. Policy changes, perhaps a lawsuit, perhaps even criminal charges.Or perhaps only retraining for the controller. Time will tell. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has ordered two controllers on the midnight shift at National.
Airport ATC Audio
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Strategist, consultant and entrepreneur, George Hatcher works with some of the world's most renowned law offices. George is a strategist for lawyers, searching the details of every case, doing the detective work to decide if a case is or is not viable. Aviation cases of company demand a great investment; and George determines if the case is strong enough to guarantee the investment of millions of dollars. Sometimes, this means traveling to different countries to interact with clients and lawyers who have requested his assistance. Sometimes this means getting directly involved with family interviews, like individual interviews with the families of deceased in the accident of the TAM. After 45 years consulting in this arena, George knows his field. George is the lawyers go-to guy to do what needs to be done. George represents you with optimum ethics and professionalism. He has it takes to find you justice.
George Hatcher trabalha com alguns dos mais prestigiados escritórios de advocacia no mundo, estrategista e consultor pessoal e empresarial. George é um estrategista para advogados, buscando detalhes, fazendo o trabalho do detetive para decidir se um caso é viável ou não. Casos de companhias aéreas exigem um grande investimento. George determina se o caso tem conteúdo suficiente para garantir um investimento de milhões de dólares. Algumas vezes, o questionamento jurídico significa viajar para diferentes países para encontrar com clientes e seus advogados que pediram sua ajuda. Algumas vezes isso significa se envolver em um caso e lidar com entrevistas com vítimas e famílias. (por exemplo, entrevistas individuais com as famílias dos mortos no acidente da TAM). Depois de 45 anos sendo consultor nessa área, George sabe muito bem o que funciona. George é a pessoa ideal procurada por advogados para executar qualquer tarefa necessária. George representa você com o melhor da sua ética e profissionalismo. Ele tem o que você precisa para encontrar justiça.