Comments on: Who’s Watching the Watchers? http://www.planeconversations.com/2010/03/04/whos-watching-the-watchers/ Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:56:17 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Clint White http://www.planeconversations.com/2010/03/04/whos-watching-the-watchers/comment-page-1/#comment-738 Clint White Fri, 05 Mar 2010 02:49:12 +0000 http://www.planeconversations.com/?p=3122#comment-738 There seems to be two camps on the whole "Tiny Tyke" ATC incident. From what I have seen, one camp is that this was simply harmless action by a caring parent who wanted to show his child what he did for a living. I actually saw some of the "talking heads" say that things have been "blown out of proportion". I do NOT sit in this camp. The second camp of pilots and professionals like me are absoutely outraged by the incredible lack of "common sense" by both this controller and his supervior. Really, who though this was a good idea!? It is a BLANTANT viotation of FAA regulations to have any unapproved and untrained individual in such a role. One rather astute talking head on the news pointed out the Aerfolot crash some years ago where a pilot actually had his 12 YEAR OLD SON flying the airplane. He accidently kicked off the autopilot and lead to a crash that killed everyone on board. It is entirelly possible that in different circumstances a distracted controller and incorrect commands could have lead to a tragic accident. Would we still think it was cute if people had been injured or killed? This whole incident goes back to question of wether judgement can be trained. I believe in many cases it can, but I am increasinly concerned by a lack of good old fashioned common sense by some in and outside of the profession these days. We are EXPECTED to act like professionals at all times in aviation. Our lives and the lives of our passengers depend on it. I hope the controller and supervisor at JFK remembers those facts the next time their kids are in the tower for a visit. There seems to be two camps on the whole “Tiny Tyke” ATC incident. From what I have seen, one camp is that this was simply harmless action by a caring parent who wanted to show his child what he did for a living. I actually saw some of the “talking heads” say that things have been “blown out of proportion”. I do NOT sit in this camp.

The second camp of pilots and professionals like me are absoutely outraged by the incredible lack of “common sense” by both this controller and his supervior. Really, who though this was a good idea!? It is a BLANTANT viotation of FAA regulations to have any unapproved and untrained individual in such a role. One rather astute talking head on the news pointed out the Aerfolot crash some years ago where a pilot actually had his 12 YEAR OLD SON flying the airplane. He accidently kicked off the autopilot and lead to a crash that killed everyone on board. It is entirelly possible that in different circumstances a distracted controller and incorrect commands could have lead to a tragic accident. Would we still think it was cute if people had been injured or killed?

This whole incident goes back to question of wether judgement can be trained. I believe in many cases it can, but I am increasinly concerned by a lack of good old fashioned common sense by some in and outside of the profession these days. We are EXPECTED to act like professionals at all times in aviation. Our lives and the lives of our passengers depend on it. I hope the controller and supervisor at JFK remembers those facts the next time their kids are in the tower for a visit.

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