After sleeping pilots in the US, traffic controllers sleep on the job

14 Apr 2011

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After an incident last year when a Northwest flight in the United States went off-course by 150 miles as both the pilot and co-pilot fell asleep, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is now battling fatigue in another area of civil aviation – with air traffic controllers.

The FAA has announced it will place an additional air traffic controller on the midnight shift at 27 control towers around the country. So far only one controller was on duty.

The FAA's action comes following reports Wednesday morning that yet another controller was found sleeping at Reno/Tahoe International Airport while a medical flight carrying an ill patient was trying to land.

According to FAA, the medical flight landed safely and the controller, who was out of communication for approximately 16 minutes, had been suspended pending investigation.

The latest controller incident follows similar incidents at Washington National Airport and at the Knoxville Airport ATC tower in Tennessee. The FAA said it is investigating two additional reports involving unresponsive controllers at airports at Seattle a few days ago and at Lubbock, Texas on 29 March.

"I am totally outraged by these incidents. This is absolutely unacceptable," said US transportation secretary Ray LaHood. "The American public trusts us to run a safe system. Safety is our number one priority and I am committed to working 24/7 until these problems are corrected."

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