- Report details how Reagan National Airport controller remembers struggling to stay awake
- Unnamed controller was working a week of nights at Washington, D.C. airport alone
An air traffic controller who fell asleep while working alone on an 'insane' night shift knew he was struggling to stay awake shortly before dropping off, according to a report.
The unnamed tower controller admitted he was 'dragging... slipping, struggling' as he became increasingly tired while three planes approached Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. in March.
As a result, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report published today, two planes landed in error after a regional controller mistakenly gave the pilots the impression they could land using rules for airports with manned towers.
Both planes, which were carrying a total of 165 passengers, landed safely.
The controller, began working for the Federal Aviation Administration in 1990 before becoming a supervisor in 2005, was temporarily suspended. He had been the only person working in the Reagan tower at the time.
The report said: 'When his awareness returned, he thought he had only been out for a couple of minutes.
'He heard one pilot calling in a "forceful voice", and shortly afterwards the pilot of the other flight was asking for the tower's phone number. That was when he realised he had missed quite a bit.
'The supervisor said that he knew he wasn't coherent, and now believes that he had been asleep.'
At the time of the near-miss, air traffic controllers at Reagan were required to work a week of shifts starting at midnight each month, a schedule the controller described as 'insane'.
The report details how the controller recalled waking up as if coming 'out of the haze' and found it difficult to talk for three or four minutes.
The following day, concerned that he may have suffered a stroke, he visited his doctor. Although the doctor failed to diagnose a stroke, he said it was likely the controller's shift pattern was to blame for his falling asleep.
The report also revealed that the controller had recently returned to the U.S. after travelling abroad and was suffering from jet-lag.
Since the March incident, and a handful of other near-misses involving tired controllers, the FAA has made it law for a minimum of two controllers to be working n a tower at any one time.
A recording of the radio chatter of one of pilots that had to land 'blind' was revealed in April.
The pilot of an American Airlines jet is heard as he is told the ground control tower is unmanned - probably because the controller 'got locked out'.
The one-minute conversation between an American Airlines jet and a regional FAA facility 40 miles away in Virginia, shows the horrifying line-by-line reality of the dangerous situation.
The regional controller in Virginia starts by outlining the problem to the pilot of the incoming AA jet.'
He said: 'The tower is apparently not manned, we've made a few phone calls.
'I'm going to take a guess and say that the controller got locked out, I've heard of this happening before.'
The AA pilot then responds: 'First time I've heard of it.'
Virginia tower: 'Yeah fortunately its not very often , it happened about a year ago.'
AA Pilot: 'Interesting.'
Virginia tower: 'It is.'
Virginia Tower: 'American 1012, tower is back in business.'
AA Pilot: 'That was a close call.'
The incident raised serious questions about controller fatigue, a long-standing safety concern.
John Goglia, a former NTSB board member, said at the time: 'You have to watch your schedules to make sure (controllers) have adequate rest.
'It's worse when nothing is going on. When it's busy, you have to stay engaged.
'When it's quiet, all they have to be is a little bit tired and they'll fall asleep.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment