Sack’em or Save’em: Should This Air Traffic Controller Be Fired?
Ryan found a story about an air traffic controller and his supervisor who are on suspended leave from their jobs because the air traffic controller let his kids talk to pilots on the air traffic control frequency. The FAA is considering whether the two should be fired or not, saying that they should have known better than to allow something like this to happen.
Other people are saying the situation is being blown out of proportion. All the kids did was tell two planes they were cleared for take off. The air traffic controller watched over everything and talked to the pilots for everything else. The pilots had no problem with, one pilot even complimented the kid for doing a good job. Also, air traffic control is a very supervised area, so it’s not like it was just the dad and his kids sitting there alone.
Did dad take things too far by taking his kids to work, and having them talk to pilots? Should he be sacked or saved?
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23 comments
he should be saved. it wasn’t like he left the kid to do everything unsupervised. its being blown way out of proportion! the kid will remember that day for the rest of his life and it could eventually lead him to do something great with his life…little things like that mean the world to kids today. shallow people that make mountains out of molehills should be fired!!!!
It was irresponsible. What would have happened if there was an accident? Would you fire a school bus driver who brought their kid in and let them sit in their lap while they were driving?
Taking them to work is one thing. Letting them relay a ‘cleared for takeoff’ message? Totally different. Many airports use the same runway for alternating takeoffs and landings. My husband flys for a living, and if he were injured by something like this that could easily be prevented? I’d be on the war path.
Sack ‘em. What OTHER bad judgment calls have they made?
My mom was an air traffic controller for 30 years. She said it is a severe offense to allow anyone, other than the certified controller, to talk on the radio. It’s a big deal because the ATC should have known it was against all rules. I don’t think the controller & supervisor should be fired, but they should be severely reprimanded so it doesn’t happen again. Would you want a surgeon’s kid in the operating room assisting with your surgery, even if it was just to do something minor? Probably not.
save em’! Give a slap on the wrist for good measure and institue a new rule. It’s not like they were in there doing whatever they wanted, they were supervised an directed what to do. All this is was a bad judgment call by a parent who probably thought he was making his child happy with a seemingly innocent act.
Save em people do worse things everyday with no consequences. No one was hurt so just let it go.
Save Em !!
1st :Im sure the Pilots knew they were going to have a CHILD talk to them,( prob cleared with the ATC 1st) Otherwise, If I were the Pilot, I certainly would have questioned who was talking to me if I didnt expect a kid to come over the headset!! If they didnt know that a kid was going to talk to them, Dont you think they should also be held responsible for taking off on the voice of a child, and not an adult!!
2nd: The Father was right there, He was the one giving the OK to take off, not the kid, the kid was just relaying his message!!
No, Driving the school bus, and performing surgery, are totally different situations….I certainly hope that ANYONE who did that, would be called on the carpet, and the staff surrounding those situations would not allow it to happen!!
Give them a break!
All it was probably was some pilot bitched about a kid on the radio either directly to the FAA or at another airport and it got around that a kid was doing this. i dont see anything wrong with what the kid did. he basically relayed what his dad would say anyhow.
I am so angry by this. Yes, we all have rules to follow but obviously the father is still doing his job and yet allowing his pride of “hey, this is what I do for a living”. He clearly had control of the whole situation and if you do listen to the recordings, even the pilots were enjoying this! I would hope that those pilots would come out and say, hey there was no harm in it.
You hear about all the dead beat dads that don’t do anything with their children and yet we’re making a big deal about this!? I loved that comment about that kid growing up to do great things. Perhaps another Capt. Sulley or even President.
SACK HIM! Nothing happened this time, but what if something terrible had happened?? We would be out for blood and the entire industry would be under review. A standard must be set, and any break in that standard must be dealt with in a very serious way. He must be sacked.
This is the most stupid non-story that I have ever seen make national news. I don’t understand why people are so upset by the “danger” this ATC put people in. The plane was all set to go there wasn’t plane around so what is the big deal with the kid saying “clear for take-off”? I just don’t get it!! The medical professional that commented on air that she wouldn’t bring her kid to work to do medical procedures was comparing apples to oranges. Would it be alright for her kid to draw blood-no way-that is a real danger for both the patient and the kid-but I don’t think it would be a big deal for the kid to hit the button that starts the blood pressure cuff-no one is in danger. I just don’t see the danger with clear for take off!! It would be way different if the planes were flying and the kid was telling them where to fly.
Save him its not like the kid caused any trouble he was told what to say! Nothing happened that day. And if your saying what if? well what if worms had machine guns……… birds would leave them alone. Dont live life as what it
Save them! I think it’s great that the dad brought his kid to work to show him what he does. It would be a great thrill for a kid to tell planes to take off…just like it would be exciting to a kid to run a siren for a fire truck or police car if that’s what their dad does for a living. Granted, it may not have been the smartest thing in the world, and they should probably be repremanded, but this is not a firing offence. No one was hurt, and in this economy it would ba shame for someone to lose a good job like that for such a minor mistake.
Save Him!
I am a pilot, and I would find this to be an amusing and uplifting start to my routine 5-hour flight from JFK to Sacramento. People are making too big a deal of this. It’s not like the controller left his son and daughter in the control tower by themselves to direct traffic. They weren’t making any decisions for ATC, just relaying the message over the radio. There is NO added risk to the flight operations there…. the guy was standing right there if something non-standard occurred. Also, the controller is exposing his kids to his noble and well-respected occupation. He might have just saved his children from becoming a part of one of the biggest problems in America: dis-interested youth. This experience will probably encourage them to aspire to be something good, instead of giving up and settling into being the local drug dealer or town loser. The FAA has already given him a leave of absence, which should be punishment enough. Wow, this was a long comment.
Save Him!
Save Him! I’m sure that dad was responsible enough to know that there were no other planes around or that anybody was in danger. Give the guy a break. I agree to there are too many dead beat dads out there. If you don’t want this to happen then maybe company’s should wake up and offer a time or day when parents can bring their children to work and show them what they do. It probably made that kids day. It was a mistake but don’t be too hard on the dad. We live in such a fast paced world that we need to stop and smell the roses and enjoy life!
Honestly no harm no foul. All these people calling for a firing is crap because the kid is not actually flying the plane. All he is doing is relaying a message from his father. But because this is not normal people want someones ass to fry. I mean honestly the kid did better then the tower controller I was listening to at BFI yesterday who couldn’t seem to get the right runway down.
Sack him – I have kids, you have to watch them and take care of them. No biggie that he talked on the system to me. But if his spouse wasn’t there to help take care of the kid, then he had to neglect his job to take of the kid, risking peoples lives. Not cool!!
Save him! Nothing bad happened now did it? Im not sure why everyone is saying sack him, he just wanted to show the kid his job.
Save him! The kid just went to work with his dad and got to clear a couple of planes for take off. No big deal. His dad was right there. About time kids go and see what their parents do for a living
Some of you are blowing this completely out of proportion!!! Once the father did his checks to verify that so and so planes are clear for take off he allowed his son to speak..SPEAK through a microphone to a PILOT who was in full controll of the plane. He’s not flying the plane, or looking at the radar or anything. You can’t compare that to a bus driver allowing his son to drive the bus, GET REAL. Yes the father should be reprimanded, but definately NOT fired. Some people who compared this to other things I.E bus driver scenario…learn how to not compare apples to oranges!
*nods in agreement with Jessie*
If the supervisor didn’t stop it from happening, the controller shouldn’t be fired. The pilots didn’t complain, nothing bad happened, the child was saying the EXACT same thing the controller would have said, so no, he should not lose his job because a bunch of lawyers have their panties in a bunch!
Save him. This is totally stupid. Okay, so he did something he shouldn’t have, but there was nothing dangerous to it.
As a pilot, I think that it was certainly unprofessional but not dangerous. The controller was right there and telling the kid what to say, which is the same way that pilots learn to talk to controllers when with their instructors. The kid wasn’t landing the airplanes, there were pilots in control of the airplane. I think the controller should be suspended and put on probation but not fired. The FAA should also make it clear that it is not acceptable behavior and move on.
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