FAA says another air traffic controller fell asleep, plans to alter scheduling

[alp227]

Source: The Washington Post

The Federal Aviation Administration has suspended another air traffic controller allegedly caught sleeping on the job and is ending the scheduling system responsible for often putting sleepy controllers behind the microphone after just eight hours off duty.

The FAA said a Miami-based controller who directs planes after they reach cruising altitude fell asleep on the job early Saturday. It was the seventh instance this year when FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt has suspended a controller for allegedly sleeping on the job.

“We are taking important steps today that will make a real difference in fighting air traffic controller fatigue. But we know we will need to do more. This is just the beginning,” Babbitt said.

The sleeping controllers have been working the overnight shift, and until their dozing was discovered, at least 28 control facilities had just one controller working that shift. Babbitt and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood ordered an end to single-person staffing this week.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/another_air_traffic_controllers_falls_asleep_faa_says/2011/04/16/AFhHEXpD_story.html

[Brickbat]

1. Eight hours off-duty is killer with single-person staffing. I can't believe it's gone this long.

[etherealtruth]

2. Their scheduling was a blueprint for disaster

"Although scheduling is flexible to meet the air traffic system’s demands, one of the most popular schedules is known as the 2-2-1. Under it, a controller begins the workweek with two evening shifts, does a quick turnaround to a pair of day shifts and then does another quick turn before an overnight shift.

Those quick turnarounds — usually just eight hours — have been blamed for controller fatigue, particularly when the final quick turnaround comes at the end of the workweek and just before an overnight shift that usually is the least busy of the week."

[TuxedoKat]

3. Why do they work shifts like that?

Do they get more days off in a row if they do?

[PSPS]

4. Did this happen before Reagan busted PATCO?

[Ian David]

5. Looks like he picked the wrong week to quit taking amphetamines. n/t

[Festivito]

6. The guy tired of the problem: suspended, the ones who created the problem are outraged and stay.

That's our America today. Just like the wars of old.

Only shoot the infantry, and never shoot the commanders.

[lib2DaBone]

7. All companies are doing this now .. work your employees like dogs...

Work until Midnight... then require them to be back at 7 a.m.... bright, fit and ready to go.

If you live 2 hours commute from yor job site.. this means even less sleep... you get home at 2 am and have to leave back out at 5 a.m.

BUT.. Corporations can report the productivity is up 200%. If you happen to drop dead on the way home.. that is YOUR fault.

[awoke_in_2003]

9. we are rapidly heading...

back to the 1920's. Think "The Jungle" can't happen again? Well, what union is going to stop it from happening (especially since we have actively crippled all of them)?

[MrMickeysMom]

8. What, was he resting in peace on behalf of Reagan?

If so, I hope he enjoyed remembering the living nightmare created for us all by that mistake of a president.

[Omaha Steve]

10. Air controllers to get more rest between shifts

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) - The government said air traffic controllers would have more time to rest between shifts under new work rules announced Sunday, while Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood made clear he won't tolerate sleeping on duty despite studies and expert recommendations that suggest scheduled shut-eye can help combat fatigue.

"On my watch, controllers will not be paid to take naps. We're not going to allow that," LaHood said. "They are going to be paid to do the job that they're trained to do, which involves guiding planes in and out of airports safely. But we are not going to pay controllers to be napping."

The Federal Aviation Administration has acknowledged a widespread problem with tired controllers. In recent months there have been five instances of controllers dozing off while on duty. The latest happened early Saturday on a late-night shift in Miami.

The new rules will give controllers at least nine hours off between shifts, compared with eight now. Controllers won't be able to swap shifts to get a long weekend unless there's at least nine hours off from the end of one shift to the start of the other. More managers will be on duty during the early morning hours and at night to remind controllers that nodding off is unacceptable.



Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20110417/D9MLHLU81.html

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Online: FAA: http://www.faa.gov


In this Sept. 10, 2010, file photo Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood listens to FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt talk about proposed rules to help prevent dangerous pilot fatigue at the Transportation Department in Washington. Saturday, April 16, 2011, Babbitt said in a statement that the FAA will be making changes to controllers' work schedules most likely to induce fatigue and that those changes will take place within 72 hours. The announcement followed another incident Saturday in which a controller fell asleep while on duty, this time at a radar center in Miami. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

[Ed Suspicious]

11. what a joke.

The idea of napping is too abhorrent even if it would work? How about an unpaid nap break? Just let these guys break up their day if they need it, or get rid of that ridiculous swing shift thing they use.

What an idiot task master.