An employee at Westchester County Airport is so appalled at what's going on in the control tower that she took photos showing her co-workers' behavior to Fox 5. Were they cracking wise about barbecuing cats and letting their kids clear pilots for takeoff? According to this employee, it was worse: they were sleeping, reading, and playing with their phones when lives were in their hands.
FAA rules stipulate that "cellphones must be in the off position while in the operation. Personal reading material and electronic devices are not permitted in operational areas." And, obviously, sleeping while you're supposed to be watching the skies is frowned upon. A spokesperson for the FAA says the traffic controllers have been given permission to nap and use their phones in "a temporary break room" in the control tower, because the elevator to the break room has been on the fritz.
But Fox 5's source says the video shows controllers sleeping and using electronic devices while in position on the job in the tower. "People sleep on the job," the source declares. And air traffic insiders say sleeping on the job "is the worst kept secret in the industry." One air traffic controller who worked at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport for 26 years says, "We had a controller that actually fell asleep and you can hear him snoring over the frequency because he fell over and keyed his microphone button."
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who sponsored legislation to ensure pilots have adequate rest between shifts, was shown the photos and video and told Fox 5, "These images are extremely disturbing. If that is indeed the case, then our air traffic controllers falling asleep on the job has to be reviewed and investigated in full." Last year, a small plane pilot died with his wife and daughter after taking off from Westchester airport. The pilot's last recorded transmission shows he was unable to make contact with Westchester tower for an unknown reason. Fox 5's source says the controller in charge was not in the tower during the accident.
