Child's Play at JFK Has Adults Fuming Mad
 

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local...-86174177.html

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating why a child was allowed to direct air traffic at John F. Kennedy airport, one of the busiest airports in the country.

The FAA says a controller brought the child to work on February 17th and allowed him to talk to pilots.

"Pending the outcome of our investigation, the employees involved in this incident are not controlling air traffic," the FAA said in a statement. "This behavior is not acceptable and does not demonstrate the kind of professionalism expected from all FAA employees." The agency declined to comment beyond the statement.

Recordings from mid-February — during a weeklong winter break for many New York schoolchildren — were posted last month on a Web site for air traffic control-listening aficionados.

Updated 12:26 PM EST, Wed, Mar 3, 2010

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The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating why a child was allowed to direct air traffic at John F. Kennedy airport, one of the busiest airports in the country.

The FAA says a controller brought the child to work on February 17th and allowed him to talk to pilots.

"Pending the outcome of our investigation, the employees involved in this incident are not controlling air traffic," the FAA said in a statement. "This behavior is not acceptable and does not demonstrate the kind of professionalism expected from all FAA employees." The agency declined to comment beyond the statement.

Recordings from mid-February — during a weeklong winter break for many New York schoolchildren — were posted last month on a Web site for air traffic control-listening aficionados.

In audio recordings captured by www.liveatc.net, the young kid could be heard clearing planes for take off and landing. At one point the child even has fun with an Air Mexico flight, saying, "Adios." (listen to the entire exchange above or here)

The adult controller accompanying the child, and the controller's supervisor have both been suspended while authorities investigate. Neither employee has been identified and the child's age has not been revealed.

Below is a transcript of an excerpt of the audio recordings as the child talks to different pilots:

Child: "171 cleared for take off."

Pilot: "Clear for take off JetBlue 171"

Child: "Let's see your Air Mexico 403 Kennedy, runway through left position and hold."

Pilot: "Going to hold Air Mexico 403."

Unknown: "This is what you get guys when the kids are out of school."

Unknown: "Wish I could bring my kid to work."

Child: "JetBlue 171 contact departure."

Unknown: "Over to departure JetBlue 171, awesome job."

Child: "03 clear for take off."

Early this morning, Dough Church with the Air Traffic Controllers' National Union released a statement saying, "We do not condone this type of behavior in any way. It is not indicative of the highest professional standards that controllers set for themselves and exceed each and every day in the advancement of aviation safety."

I don't see a problem. It was clear the kid was repeating what someone told him to say. And, if not, give the kid a job. :p

But seriously, if it was an every day thing, okay, it's a problem.

Thats funny. Hell I shouldnt be saying this but my dad was a conductor for Amtrak for many years. I used to drive the trains when I was like 6 years old. Fun times. Though keeping a train a a track is MUCH easier than a flight control center.

Don't see any way that person doesn't get fired for that.

WTF

FWIW, it sounds like the kid was directing traffic on the ground, not in the air.

You must not fly very much. This is just mind-numbingly stupid.

Probably not a bright idea, but the pilots seemed okay with it, so who gives a ****? I don't really see what the worst-case scenario for this is.

When a kid says something that the transcript denotes as unintelligible, I see problems. Look, if he was helping his dad run the Garden City International Airport or calling out commands at Fargo Field, that would be one thing. This is JFK, where things move a mile a minute, pilots speak with a variety of difficult to discern accents, and a chain of movement that cannot allow for confusion. I don't care if it's ground control...bad things can happen there too.

I heard the sound clip, and the kid actually sounded like he knew what he was doing. Obviously Daddy was feeding him lines but for a 6 year old, he was good.

The only problem I would have is that I think there is a regulation about having children in the tower as they could be distracting to other air traffic personnel. But other than that, much ado about nothing. People in this country get outraged over anything these days. As a populace, we have become a big group of snivveling worms.

So Timmy, have you ever seen a grown man naked?

Roger, Roger.

Probably not a good idea, but it doesn't seem like there was a huge amount of danger in it. I can't imagine ATC's are on-task and alert 100% of the time anyway.

Uh, transcripts denote shit as unintelligible all the time. That's when the recorder doesn't clearly pick up what was said.

I was reading recently that runway incursions (and resulting near misses) are statistical vastly higher than near misses while airborne. Not a surprise really (considering the density of aircraft at airports compared to the sky) but the worst commercial aviation disaster in history took place when two 747s collided on a runway.

"I think you're the greatest, but my dad says you don't work hard enough on defense. And he says that lots of times, you don't even run down court. And that you don't really try, except during the playoffs."