Bad Dads For The Win: Air Traffic Controller Allows Son To Direct Flights

Top brass in the U.S. are investigating an incident last month in which a young boy stepped in to his father’s shoes and directed air traffic at JKF International Airport.

Audiotape recorded the boy directing planes for take-off during a week when New York students were out of school, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is none too pleased.

"JetBlue 171 contact departure," the boy – whose identity, along with his dad’s, hasn’t been released – was recorded saying. "Over to departure JetBlue 171, awesome job," the pilot responds.

To another pilot, the boy was recorded saying, "MS 4-0-3, contact departure," before adding, "Adios, amigo."

The pilot’s response? "Adios, amigo."

The boy’s father, a certified air traffic controller, later said, with a chuckle, "That's what you get, guys, when the kids are out of school."

While the other pilots involved certainly didn’t seem to be upset, the FAA is, and has put Dad on administrative leave while it looks in to the situation.

"This behaviour is not acceptable and does not demonstrate the kind of professionalism expected from all FAA employees,” they said in a statement. The incident is "not indicative of the highest professional standards that controllers set for themselves and exceed each and every day in the advancement of aviation safely".

The owner of the company that posts air traffic control communications, David Pascoe, a pilot himself, feels differently.

"Nobody in the aviation community felt like this was anything more than a noble thing, that a father would take his kid to work. And when you listen to any of the recordings, the situation in the tower is very controlled. There is no hint … that anyone was too busy or anyone was interrupting the planes. The kid cleared two airplanes. It was very controlled and I don’t think safety was compromised, nor should anyone be disciplined for this," he said, noting there was no security threat as a result of the incident.

What do you think? Is the FAA making a mountain out of a molehill, or is there real cause for concern here?

[source]

Comments

[Michelle]

I can see how the dad probably thought it was cute and a cool experience for the child, but I definitely think he should receive some sort of slap on the wrist for this. He used bad judgement. Luckily no one was hurt.

[Jennie]

I think we all just love to find fault in other people's actions and now the FAA feels compelled to step up and say "oh my, we never would have allowed this" because of the outcry in the media. Really?? Was there no supervisor or other controller there at the time that might have said, "dude. not a good idea." if it truly wasn't safe? It seems really unlikely that this guy (or his co-workers, cuz I doubt he was alone) would have allowed his son to "help" if he had even the slightest doubt that all would be safe and secure. I mean he was right there, feeding him the lines. I think it's a major overreaction. I feel sorry for him and also his kids. (His daughter apparently cleared a couple planes too BTW.) What was probably going to be an exciting day seeing Daddy's job is now most likely embarrassing and a bit scary.

[Elizabeth]

I agree, total overreaction. Do you really think that I pilot would have blindly accepted a direction from a kid that was obviously incorrect? "Dive the plane into the ocean." "Roger that." Yeah, right.

[MBonn]

Absurd! If he'd left the kid in control and gone out to have a smoke or something, then I'd be outraged. But bringing the kid to work and letting him say a few words to the pilots while he's right there making sure everything is fine? Who cares! FAA needs to focus on what really matters and forget the media and their sensationalizing everything!

[Jessi]

There used to be a day for this. A day set aside for parents to take their children to work, teach them about their profession, good work ethic, excellence in job performance, etc. I don't think anyone was ever in any danger. The dad was right there, the kid was only saying what he was being coached to say and everything was clearly under control. I think it's awesome that this dad cared enough to show his kids what he does, how he does it and why it's important.

[Quixotic]

I think the Fun Police have scored with this one - it's not like the boy was directing traffic on his own, his Dad took him to work and let him say a final clearance to a couple of pilots. I think it's an awesome thing for a Dad to do, he was being responsible, as MBonn pointed out, and showing him a world most young boys would find totally cool. I did admin work for an airport a while back ona temp job, and got to have a look-see at the tower, trust me, everything is super-tightly controlled, and there are always a whole mess of people there, making sure everybody else isn't dropping the ball (or the planes!) If he was really being irresponsible, the other TC's would've pitched a fit.

[Marilyn @ A Lot of Loves]

I watched this on the news last night and I admit to thinking something was a bit hinky. Not good judgement on the part of the dad for sure. Even more disturbing was that the pilots all just went with it. Not one of them seemed to say "Um I'm flying a plane with hundreds of people aboard, do you mind if I talk to your Dad?" WTH is up with that?

I think it's cool to take your son to work and show him the control room but it's one thing to show him the computers and listen in and another to actually direct flight traffic.