Audio indicates kid directed planes at NY airport

jackrussell

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Mar 3, 11:23 AM (ET)

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NEW YORK (AP) - A child apparently directed pilots last month from the air traffic control center at John F. Kennedy Airport, one of the nation's busiest airports, according to audio clips. The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday that it was investigating.

"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.

The child can be heard on the tape making five transmissions to pilots preparing for takeoff.

In one exchange, the child can be heard saying, "JetBlue 171 contact departure." The pilot responds: "Over to departure JetBlue 171, awesome job."

The child appears to be under an adult's supervision, because a male voice then comes on and says with a laugh, "That's what you get, guys, when the kids are out of school."

In another exchange, the youngster clears another plane for takeoff, and says, "Adios, amigo." The pilot responds in kind.

The FAA said the control tower is a highly secure area for air traffic controllers, supervisory staff and airport employees with a need to be there. FAA spokesman Jim Peters said children of the tower's employees are allowed to visit but would need to get approval from the FAA first.

The union representing air traffic controllers condemned the workers' behavior. "It is not indicative of the highest professional standards that controllers set for themselves and exceed each and everyday in the advancement of aviation safety," the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said in a statement.


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I listened to the audio, and this seems like a total non-issue.

I guess they have to take it seriously now that it's gotten out, but it really sounded like it was no big deal at the time.
 
Danny White;3294064 said:
I listened to the audio, and this seems like a total non-issue.

I guess they have to take it seriously now that it's gotten out, but it really sounded like it was no big deal at the time.

Yeah, I really don't see the need for panic either.
 
It's an issue of distraction. Anything that takes the crew's attention away from the "norm", is NOT a good thing.

As minor as it seems, that area is the busiest international airspace in the world at any one time, and having a kid's voice come over the air, diverts attention from flight-crews unnecessarily.

Besides, having that controller's kid at THAT job, and him potentially having to supervise him, even for a few seconds, rather than an airliner filled with 100's of lives, is NOT something I'm interested in MY tax $$$ paying for.
 
DallasCowpoke;3294122 said:
It's an issue of distraction. Anything that takes the crew's attention away from the "norm", is NOT a good thing.

As minor as it seems, that area is the busiest international airspace in the world at any one time, and having a kid's voice come over the air, diverts attention from flight-crews unnecessarily.

Besides, having that controller's kid at THAT job, and him potentially having to supervise him, even for a few seconds, rather than an airliner filled with 100's of lives, is NOT something I'm interested in MY tax $$$ paying for.



Trust me, all these non panic people, would have a heck of aproblem if it caused their pilot to recognize something was wrong, take a few seconds to collect their thougths than say, "whoa something wrong" and that plane having to wait for a new departure.

If anyone of thse people were an iota late, they would be people to be FIRED on the spot.
 
It is not a big deal because nothing bad happened; however, I can see why they want to make sure it doesn't happen again. You don't want to be rolling the dice too many times in that stressful of an environment. It would be rare for something bad to happen, but if something did happen because an air traffic controller let his kid on the mic you know there would be lawyers just salivating to get the case. It would be hard enough to fight off lawyers even if air traffic controllers did everything by the book. It would be almost impossible if a kid was found to be the reason something bad happen. The kid was only there to be the designated driver for his dad anyway.
 
ShiningStar;3294289 said:
Trust me, all these non panic people, would have a heck of aproblem if it caused their pilot to recognize something was wrong, take a few seconds to collect their thougths than say, "whoa something wrong" and that plane having to wait for a new departure.

If anyone of thse people were an iota late, they would be people to be FIRED on the spot.

Ehhh, you're over-reacting. I'm a heart surgeon and I'll let my 9-year old help close up a patient from time to time.

It's no big deal as long as no one's getting hurt.
 
That's a joke, by the way. :p:

Back to the topic, one of my employees is a part-time commercial pilot, and after talking to him, I'll reverse my original opinion that it's no big deal. He said he was surprised the pilots actually accepted the clearance from a kid... said there was no way he'd do that.
 
A flight tower is where you want to keep joking and or distractions to a minimum. That helicopter crash over the Hudson last summer happened because the controller was joking about a dead cat to his gf.
 
bbgun;3294348 said:
A flight tower is where you want to keep joking and or distractions to a minimum. That helicopter crash over the Hudson last summer happened because the controller was joking about a dead cat to his gf.

I recall the incident you're talking about, but the issue wasn't the air traffic controller in that crash.

The plane and the helicopter were both flying VFR and the ATC had no responsibility for keeping the craft seperated. It was the pilot of the plane and the pilot of the helicopter's responsibility to avoid each other.
 
Danny White;3294325 said:
Ehhh, you're over-reacting. I'm a heart surgeon and I'll let my 9-year old help close up a patient from time to time.

It's no big deal as long as no one's getting hurt.
:laugh2:
 
It's not like the kid was by himself. This is just a big overreaction.
 

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