Air Traffic Controllers

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, embarrassed by reports of air-traffic controllers asleep at their jobs, said today that as well-trained professionals they have a "personal responsibility" to get their job done -- including resting when they're off the clock. LaHood reiterated that while he is open to suggestions from the Federal Aviation Administration and the air-traffic controllers union, "we're not going to pay controllers to take naps. I've already decided that. " Speaking to the Chicago Tribune's editorial board, LaHood, a former Republican congressman from Peoria, also said the federal government will fund high-speed rail lines because "the people want it," despite opposition from some Republican governors and the deficit-cutting plans of House Republicans.

U.S. Coast Guard  and Navy forces have been dispatched to the scene of a plane crash off the coast of Florida. So far there is no word about the fate of the pilot believed to have become incapacitated at the controls. The small aircraft circled aimlessly in the skies for hours over the Gulf of Mexico as anxious air traffic controllers watched helplessly. Air traffic controllers apparently tried for hours to make contact with the pilot, but all attempts failed, pointing to the likelihood that the pilot had perhaps fallen unconscious at the controls, or perhaps suffered a heart attack.  FlightAware.com released the above image of the path of the plane, including the erratic and repetitive circular patterns it made over the Gulf of Mexico.

The fatal collision on Friday evening between a large airliner and a small plane on the ground at Los Angeles International Airport, one of the nation's busiest, comes as no surprise to aviation experts who have been issuing warnings about dangerously congested runway conditions nationwide. "We know that the two planes did collide on the (ground)," said Elly Brekke, a regional spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

NEW YORK - Minutes after a JetBlue flight took off from New York for Las Vegas, the pilot began muttering things that didn't make sense to his co-pilot. He started talking about the need to "focus," lamented that "things just don't matter," and yelled at air traffic controllers to keep quiet. At some point, Capt. Clayton Osbon purportedly told his first officer that "we're not going to Las Vegas" and launched into a sermon. That set off a chain of events that culminated in a federal charge of interfering with a flight crew being filed against Osbon on Wednesday, a day after he was tackled by passengers at 35,000 feet and later carried off to a hospital.

NEW YORK - Minutes after a JetBlue flight took off from New York for Las Vegas, the pilot began muttering things that didn't make sense to his co-pilot. He started talking about the need to "focus," lamented that "things just don't matter," and yelled at air traffic controllers to keep quiet. At some point, Capt. Clayton Osbon purportedly told his first officer that "we're not going to Las Vegas" and launched into a sermon. That set off a chain of events that culminated in a federal charge of interfering with a flight crew being filed against Osbon on Wednesday, a day after he was tackled by passengers at 35,000 feet and later carried off to a hospital.

The Federal Aviation Administration official in charge of operating the air traffic control system has resigned amid revelations that several controllers have fallen asleep on the job this year, the FAA chief said Thursday Stepping down is Hank Krakowski, who has been the head of the FAA Air Traffic Organization. David Grizzle, the FAA's chief counsel, will be the acting chief of the unit during a search to fill the post, according to Randy Babbitt, the agency's administrator. The development came after another air traffic controller apparently fell asleep while on duty, the sixth such incident this year that the FAA has disclosed.

There seems to be an epidemic of under-sleeping these days. This year alone, seven air traffic controllers have been caught sleeping on duty. In two well-publicized cases, pilots were heard nearly pleading with control towers to guide them in. (The planes landed safely.) The most recent incident occurred Saturday, when a controller was observed sleeping at a Florida tower. (He did not miss any calls from pilots.) In response, the FAA has adjusted controllers' schedules and mandated that additional controllers be assigned during sleepy midnight shifts.

By a 193-226 vote, the House rejected an amendment to force the Federal Aviation Administration to rehire 1,000 air traffic controllers fired by President Reagan after their union illegally struck the government in 1981. This occurred as the House debated a $10.3-billion fiscal 1987 appropriations bill (HR 5205) for the Department of Transportation and related agencies. As later sent to the Senate, the bill gave the government the option of rehiring the strikers. Sponsor Guy V. Molinari (R-N.Y.

J. Lynn Helms, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration who carried out President Reagan's order to fire more than 11,000 striking air traffic controllers and oversaw efforts to keep airlines flying during the crisis, has died. He was 86. He died Dec. 11 of cardiopulmonary failure at his home in Westport, Conn., a family spokesman said. Helms had a reputation as a decisive, technically brilliant aviation industry executive who led a number of companies out of financial straits, including Piper Aircraft, which he ran for six years.

The Oakland Raiders were the NFL's second-ranked running team last season, yet were 23rd when it came to throwing the ball. Not to worry. Al will address that. That's Al Saunders, not Raiders owner Al Davis. Saunders, who oversaw some of the more successful passing offenses in NFL history, was hired this year as Oakland's offensive coordinator, filling the job vacancy created when Hue Jackson was promoted to head coach. It was a move that brought Saunders' career full circle, seeing as the 64-year-old coach once worked as a Raiders ball boy and twice interviewed with Davis for the job as head coach.

— Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Wednesday that two air traffic controllers had been fired — one for sleeping on the job, the other for questionable guidance of a jetliner over Florida. They had been among nine suspended during Federal Aviation Administration investigations into a rash of incidents involving controllers, including several who were sleeping and one who was watching a movie when he was supposed to be directing air traffic. Separately, the FAA said aircraft carrying the first lady or vice president would receive a higher level of scrutiny from controllers since the aborted landing of a plane carrying Michelle Obama this week.

There seems to be an epidemic of under-sleeping these days. This year alone, seven air traffic controllers have been caught sleeping on duty. In two well-publicized cases, pilots were heard nearly pleading with control towers to guide them in. (The planes landed safely.) The most recent incident occurred Saturday, when a controller was observed sleeping at a Florida tower. (He did not miss any calls from pilots.) In response, the FAA has adjusted controllers' schedules and mandated that additional controllers be assigned during sleepy midnight shifts.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, embarrassed by reports of air-traffic controllers asleep at their jobs, said today that as well-trained professionals they have a "personal responsibility" to get their job done -- including resting when they're off the clock. LaHood reiterated that while he is open to suggestions from the Federal Aviation Administration and the air-traffic controllers union, "we're not going to pay controllers to take naps. I've already decided that. " Speaking to the Chicago Tribune's editorial board, LaHood, a former Republican congressman from Peoria, also said the federal government will fund high-speed rail lines because "the people want it," despite opposition from some Republican governors and the deficit-cutting plans of House Republicans.

A plane carrying First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden was forced to abort a landing at Andrews Air Force Base on Monday after it drew too close to a military cargo plane sitting on the runway, federal officials said. The Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday that the plane was never in danger. Obama and Biden, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden, were returning from New York on Monday afternoon aboard a Boeing C-40, an equivalent to a 737, when it approached the base while a 200-ton C-17 remained on the runway.

A plane carrying First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden had to abort a landing at Andrews Air Force Base because an air traffic controller allowed it to get too close to a military cargo plane landing ahead of it, a federal aviation official said Tuesday evening. The Federal Aviation Administration said neither plane was in danger. Obama and Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, were returning from New York City aboard a Boeing C-40, akin to a 737, on Monday when their plane neared the base behind a C-17 cargo plane.