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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Some members of Congress are saying the suspension of a Washington, D.C., air traffic controller who fell asleep on the job early Wednesday is only the beginning of the changes that are coming.

Possible new safety measures could include a high-tech air traffic control system that automates most operations done by humans now.

Transportation leaders in Congress are using the incident Wednesday to illustrate broader safety problems at the nation’s airports.

“This incident and other recent performance failures, including near miss incidents, are matters of serious concern,” said Rep. John L. Mica, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Mica (R-Fla.) ordered his staff to collect more evidence of airline safety violations as part of a congressional investigation.

During the incident minutes after midnight, the lone air traffic controller at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport fell asleep while he was supposed to be directing airliners onto and off of the runway.

He told investigators it was his fourth night in a row of working the late shift from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Two pilots from approaching airliners radioed the control tower for permission to land but received no response.

After failed communications by radio and by telephone, the pilots landed on their own without getting clearance.

The airplanes were an American Airlines 737 that touched down at 12:12 a.m. and a United Airbus A320 that landed at 12:26 a.m.

The air traffic controller resumed radio flight operations at 12:28 a.m.

He has 20 years of experience as an air traffic controller, 17 of them at Reagan National Airport. He also is a Federal Aviation Administration manager.

The FAA announced Thursday that the controller, whose name was not given, had been suspended pending an investigation.

“I’m outraged,” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. “We will get to the bottom of this.”

So far, the FAA’s response has been to ban control tower operations with less than two controllers directing aircraft.

Thirty-one major U.S. airports operate throughout the night with a single air traffic controller.

Mica, the congressional committee leader, said the ban on lone controllers was inadequate.

“Unfortunately the [Obama] Administration’s call for increased staffing at Reagan National, when there are no flights during the early morning hours, is a typical bureaucratic response,” he said.

The controversy could push Congress and the FAA to look more closely at the “NextGen” air traffic control system, a congressional staff member told All Headline News.

“Whether or not these safety incidents lead to more scrutiny of NextGen development remains to be seen,” said Justin Harclerode, spokesman for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

NexGen is the short name for the planned Next Generation Air Transportation System.

Work started on the automated air traffic control system in 1993 but was halted amid technological hurdles and budget shortfalls.

Originally, the FAA planned to install the system by 2001.

Installation of the system now is scheduled to begin next year and continue in stages through 2025.

NexGen is designed to move air traffic control away from ground-based technology to satellite communications. The role of human air traffic controllers would be reduced by the technologies, which are intended to make airline operations safer and more efficient.

Safety hazards the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is examining as it considers new safety options include a near miss in January between an American Airlines jet and two Air Force C-17 cargo planes, Harclerode said.

They missed each other by less than a mile while being guided by a New York City air traffic controller. 

Others involve an air traffic controller who was distracted while talking on the phone to his girlfriend. He failed to to keep an eye on a plane that ran into a helicopter over the Hudson River in New York.

Another incident in New York involved an air traffic controller who allowed his child to issue commands to pilots on Feb. 17, 2010.

 

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