FAA suspends controller after child's air traffic transmissions
Action comes after tapes surface of New York controller allowing his son to issue instructions to pilots.
The Federal Aviation Administration has suspended an air traffic controller and a supervisor after tapes surfaced of a child issuing instructions to pilots at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, the Associated Press reported. The controller apparently brought his son with him to work and allowed him to communicate with aircraft on a day last month when many New York City children were on a break from school.
NBC New York has posted audio of the child's transmissions, which were reported on by a Boston TV station after they appeared on the Internet.
The controller's "lapse in judgment not only violated FAA's own policies, but common sense standards for professional conduct," said agency administrator Randy Babbitt in a statement.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association also issued a statement saying the controller's behavior was "not indicative of the highest professional standards that controllers set for themselves and exceed each and everyday in the advancement of aviation safety."