Tapes indicate child directed planes at NY airport

[rsmith6621]

NEW YORK – The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating whether a child directed planes from Kennedy Airport's air traffic control tower.

A child's voice can be heard on a tape making five transmissions to pilots preparing for takeoff on Feb. 17. The recording was obtained by WFXT-TV in Boston.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100303/ap_on_re_us/us_child_air_traffic

[leftofcool]

1. Must be snowing again. School's out!

[lonestarnot]

2. Incoming!

[izquierdista]

3. Not acceptable?

I can think of situations where it would be "acceptable". Someone has the regulation book so far up his ass it's interfering with his reasoning.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

4. IMO, this is being overblown.

I heard this on the radio this morning. The only problem is the sensationalist reactionary MSM is trying to "make a story"..

#1) Take your kids to work day.
#2) The father was RIGHT THERE with the child spoonfeeding him the radio orders. ("___ clear for takeoff")
#3) The father clearly loves his job and the kid and pilots appeared to enjoy this as well.

I think the best action would be the FAA and union stating there was little danger involved in this event and despite any displayed unprofessionalism. While there were no harmful or negative intent which occurred, future such events will be avioded. The controller will not be terminated.

[Robb]

22. Listening to the tape, I agree with you (now)

Before I heard the tapes I was on the fence, but the pilots understood the kid and were supportive of the event. That's the yardstick I'd look for.

[Atman]

5. It's very odd...the kid was obviously just repeating the instructions he was given...

...and they were clear and correct. In case you don't know, it was "take your kid to work" day. So an air traffic controller did. He probably shouldn't have. I mean, this isn't a regular office. A surgeon wouldn't take his kid in to perform open heart operations, nor should an air traffic controller "play" with so many lives. I think a reprimand is in order because of the potential severity of the consequences, but since the controller was giving the instructions, and the pilots understood and acted appropriately, no harm no foul. Just stupid.

.

[CBR]

6. I heard this on the radio this morning. All I can say is "who cares?" nt

[Dappleganger]

7. I don't think it was very professional to allow this to happen.

There are other people's lives at stake--people who believed that grownups were at the controls and solely in charge. Kids make mistakes and can freak out so I don't agree with what happened.

[chrisa]

8. Kind of a non-issue, imo.

It seems like the flight controller was right there to correct any errors made by the kid. Nothing to see here, imo (and definately an overreaction by the media).

[rsmith6621]

11. Some Here on the DU Need a BRAIN

....The kid was in a FAA secure zone, do you know how hard it is for a Senior Captain with years of experience to get a tower tour...

Do you realize that 30 seconds equals 6 miles convergence???.... How about the judgment of the adult who allowed this??.


What is to see here is SAFETY WAS COMPROMISED FOR EVEN JUST A BRIEF SECOND....would it be acceptable for the Captain to let his 6 year old fly your next commercial flight for 3 minutes without autopilot or the Cop on your street to let his 6 year old do a ride along and play with his gun ...think about it.

Tell Me....where do you draw the line...

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

14. The father/controller was still in control. The kid was only parrotting orders.

Letting a kid turn your ignition key to start the car is NOT the same thing as plucking them in the drivers seat and letting them drive. This kid was not making decisions - he was simply speaking spoonfed orders. In fact, the father was right there on the microphone with him and can be heard speaking as well in the recordings.

I draw the line @ "who was in control"?

[rsmith6621]

15. Saftey Still Comprimised.....PERIOD

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

16. Geez, just getting out of bed compromises safety.

Risk is comprised of likelihood and consequence. There was little risk involved in this event.

Example: Drinking lead-acid battery electrolyte will kill you. Then why is battery electrolyte so readily available?
Because the likelihood of actually drinking battery electrolyte is virtually zero.
Therefore, the risk of having battery electrolyte readily available is not high given the grave consequences.

In this situation, the worst consequence of an air traffic controller results in catastrophe. However, the likelihood of such an event arising from a supervised child parroting takeoff clearances is nearly non-existent. Direct supervision and trained human factors are in place to quickly remedy any mistake made by the child in order to avert any consequence. I would have guess even the likelihood of a child incorrectly repeating what they are told to say is pretty low. Thus, despite the grave consequences that face an traffic control mistake, the likelihood of such a mistake renders the increased risk negligible. PERIOD.

If you must continue with your scheduled poutrage, by all means... carry on.

[Xithras]

28. Safety was not compromised.

The father was right there. Had the child started to make a mistake, the father could have intervened to correct it before the kid was even done making it. If the dad had said "Hey, take the mic for a minute while I grab coffee" I'd agree with you. That's not even close to what happened though.

[catbyte]

9. I think it was a BAAAAD idea...

It's not so much that the kid put the flights he talked to in any danger, but the distraction the kid must have caused in the tower. Air Traffic Control is a very unique job where, if you lose focus for just a second, the result can be catastrophic.

I definitely don't agree that this was "no big deal." This is one profession where "take your kid to work" is a bad idea. Keep kids out of the control tower when I'm flying, please.

:scared:

Diane

Anishnabe in MI

[mmonk]

10. .

:rofl:

On so many levels.

[JBoy]

12. Pilot should have asked the kid if he liked gladiator movies.

[catbyte]

13. Touche

lol :rofl:

Diane

Anishnabe in MI

[guitar man]

17. ever seen a grown man naked?

:rofl:

[Robb]

18. LOL

We're all going to hell for laughing, but at least we'll have lots of company. :D

[DefenseLawyer]

19. Roger, Roger

What's our vector, Victor? We have clearance, Clarence.

[catbyte]

25. TCM is showing "Airplane" in letterbox soon

Oh boy!

:woohoo:

:applause:

:popcorn:

Diane

Anishnabe in MI

[tridim]

20. When I was 16 I took an introductory flying lesson.

I wasn't supposed to be able to even touch the yoke during the flight.

Instead my instructor let me taxi, take off, fly for about 10 minutes by myself and line up for approach. I'm sure all of this was completely illegal, but I'm glad he let me fly. Best $150 I ever spent.

[L0oniX]

21. Even a cave man can do it.

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[dave29]

24. Take your child to Work Day

[Froward69]

26. Now THAT child at work caused

harm, Damage and created a danger to Millions!!!

ROFLOL!!! (good one)

[Pisces]

27. This is a ridiculous controversy. The father was instructing him and repeated the instructions.

This was just bring your kid to work day.

[pnorman]

29. That brought to mind a vaguely similar situation that turned into a tragedy.

Here it is: http://gohawaii.about.com/library/weekly/aa021001a.htm

Not mentioned in the article, is that there were several civilian "high ranking guests" aboard, as a "political favor". I'll have to Google further, but I have a recollection of reading that one of them was invited to do a bit of "hands on" for that operation. In any event, where damage or injury/loss of life is even a remote possibility, NO avoidable distraction should be permitted in that area!

[Liberal In Texas]

30. Might encourage the pilots to have a "bring your kid to work" day...(pic)