FAA suspends 2 for movie watching while on duty

I have always utmost respect for ATC controllers, but I keep finding it harder and harder to defend these guys.

Sad part is that it is something that has probably been there a good while and comes to light with a high profile incident like happened at Reagan a few weeks ago, and now there is the typical knee jerk reaction from EVERYBODY that it's a big problem. The real problem is that all this publicity will prevent any meaningful progress on the actual problems that lead to these things.

I am sure these incidents will hasten the implementation of NEXGEN. Right now the biggest issue slowing the air traffic system is the manual voice communication between pilots and controller.

Gerry: you are probably correct about the hastening, but I thought the NEXGEN was primarily enroute or area control and not tower com.Can you enlighten some?

Wayne, you seem to have brought up the Reagan incident quite a bit lately. Might you have more to tell?
While not condoning the actions of the controllers, I do believe the media can grossly distort the common public from the real issues at hand and resolution to the matters. They simply like to sensationalize current events to get attention.

No Michael, not anymore to tell. It's just that a few weeks before that the incident down in Knoxville TN or in Lubbock TX didn't even make a ripple in things yet when you have something happen like this in our Nation's capitol, it's a big old bugaboo and the traveling public is going down in flames. I have seen some of our FW members jump on the same bandwagon so what do you do. Every industry has it's dirty laundry. In most cases though, they don't put it out there for the world to see.

The only bandwagon I'm jumping on is the one that calls for truth. Unfortunately, we as the public, will only hear what the media wants us to hear. They will not tell us every side of the story. Most journalists have a slant to every story they present. Sad, but true.

That slant you mention, unfortunately, is the problem. The ATC system is full of dedicated professionals and it is sad that a few are singled out. In any workplace, there is so much that goes on and is tolerated, regardless of rules & regs, and/or accepted as the norm.Sad part of it is though that those dedicated professionals that do their jobs day in and day out don't make newsworthy headlines. You want the truth; that is the truth and the primary reason it is safe for over 5000 flights per day to crowd our skies.

I can't believe you guys! You're totally missing the point here. If an ATC is gonna insist on watching a movie while on duty...that movie needs to be aviation oriented. I'd suggest something like "Airplane...Pushing Tin...or even 12 O'clock High."

It isn't anything new everyone, this happens all the time. The FAA just started doing something about it when that one incident at KDCA became publicized. Plenty of controllers fall asleep, or watch movies on their portable DVD players; we just never hear about it. So to answer peoples question "Isn't it ridiculous that 8 controllers fell asleep in the past 8 weeks? You would think they would be more alert after the past few incidents." The answer is no, because this isn't something new. It is just newly recognized by the public, and the FAA is trying to do something about it so they can gain more support.

I personally like the old "Iron Eagle" series

Wow is all I can say. It's going to take a major accident to fix a problem. It's just human nature.

Wayne, you're right. The hard-working individuals that do their job right, regardless of the shift, never get recognized. They're the ones that have to suffer by being lumped with the few that have made some poor decisions on the job and thus, now have to hear it from their peers. It is a shame that some ignorant, news-watching idiots now are going to place a stigma on ALL controllers.

I guess even since Air Force days, tthere has always been the interest in Aircraft and ATC in general. Had it not been for a medical sideline, I had ATC school out of boot camp.I remember at Davis-Monthan in Tuscon, that was the busiest, single use runway in the world at the time, having, at that time an F4 wing, a C130 wing and was HQ for the USAF's U2 wing; talk about a traffic mix from fast to slow. Had a lot of friends in the tower and I can guarantee you that there was no time for sleeping then, day or not. If you went up and visited, you basically kept your head down and your mouth shut, cause at any pattern position you wanted to look at, something was there.

One point that seems to be missed. This controller wasn't asleep in fact he was probably watching the movie to help stay awake. Another thing to consider, these controllers have grown up in the digital/information overload age so sitting in the dark with nothing to do is completely foreign to them.