Newark Liberty International Airport continues to cause major headaches for travelers who are now worried about their safety.
At least five air traffic controllers had to take 45-day 'trauma leave' after equipment failures created chaos in the air and on the runway.
One air traffic controller was heard on released audio telling a pilot approaching the airport, "We don't have a radar, so I don't know where you are."
CNN aviation expert Pete Muntean declared, "There is no end in sight right now," to the airport's problems, which have dragged on for more than a week. "To replace these controllers who are now out on trauma leave, [the FAA] can't drag and drop controllers from some other place. It's a very specialized job."
Muntean explained that some controllers for Newark Liberty are located at the Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control facility (TRACON), who can't make visual contact with planes.
"Controllers, they are essentially in this facility, stuck in a dark room with a radar scope and the radio. That's the only way they have to see airplanes and communicate with them," Muntean said. "This is not like controllers in a tower where they can look out a window and see what's going on. And, so, when they don't have those resources available to them, they are pretty well hosed. It's pretty hard for them to do this job. And, so, they're essentially doing the job blind. They need these resources, and this is something the FAA has to do in the immediate."
Muntean said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is planning an announcement Thursday, "Where the Trump administration will announce a wide-ranging revamp of the air traffic control system, because so many people agree here that the problem is the aging technology. That is the central issue."
Newark Liberty has cancelled some 800 flights since that equipment outage began last week.
In the wake of several plane crashes and near-misses, the man now famed for slashing the federal workforce is now trying to make it larger in the most "inane" way possible, according to a piece in The New Republic.
On Thursday, Elon Musk put out the call for retired air traffic controllers to rejoin the labor pool.
"There is a shortage of top notch air traffic controllers," Musk posted to X. "If you have retired, but are open to returning to work, please consider doing so."
TNR's Edith Olmsted wrote, "Musk’s desperate call to bring retired federal employees back into the fray after single-handedly undermining the security of every single government job is inane on its face. It gets even more so when considering the actual requirements for the job."
She went on to explain, "Individuals interested in becoming an air traffic controller must be younger than 31 years of age to apply for the position, according to the Federal Aviation Administration website. Air traffic controllers are permitted to serve in the position until they are 56 years old."
Olmsted called Musk's efforts to lure back the highly-skilled workers "unserious," but stated, "the problem straining air traffic control towers is anything but."
She cited a 2023 New York Times report stating that "nearly every air traffic control site in the country was understaffed, leading to the staffers in the high-stress position being overworked. After a deadly plane crash at the Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C., earlier this month, the Timesreported that its air traffic control tower had a staff of 19 controllers—as opposed to the 30 recommended by the FAA and controllers’ union."
Safety checks on some Boeing jets hit a snag over paperwork on Sunday, as U.S. authorities searched for a missing panel that blew off a new Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet in midair on Friday.
The Federal Aviation Administration on Saturday ordered the temporary grounding of 171 Boeing jets installed with the same panel after the eight-week-old Alaska Airlines jet was forced to make an emergency landing with a gap in the fuselage.
"They will remain grounded until the FAA is satisfied that they are safe," the agency said in a statement on Sunday.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Wednesday authorized SpaceX to carry out its second launch of Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, after a first attempt in April ended in a spectacular explosion.
In a statement, the FAA said Elon Musk's company had now "met all safety, environmental, policy and financial responsibility requirements" following the mishap that marred the first orbital test flight of its next-generation spaceship.
"Targeting Friday, November 17 for Starship's second flight test," SpaceX posted on X shortly after the authorization.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said investigators plan to conclude its on-scene investigative work Wednesday from the southwest Virginia crash site of the light plane that caused a security scare on Sunday when it flew over heavily restricted airspace near Washington.
Four people including the pilot of the Cessna Citation 560 were killed in the crash in a mountainous wooded area, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — U.S. President Joe Biden's nominee to head the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is withdrawing his nomination after Republican criticism that he was not qualified to serve as the top aviation regulator.
Last year, Biden nominated Denver International Airport CEO Phil Washington to serve as FAA administrator. A spokesperson for Washington at the airport did not immediately comment.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg late Saturday confirmed Washington's withdrawal first reported by Reuters.
"The partisan attacks and procedural obstruction he has faced are undeserved, but I respect his decision to withdraw and am grateful for his service," Buttigieg said on Twitter.
The agency has faced numerous safety questions in recent months after a series of close-call safety incidents and the Senate Commerce Committee earlier this week delayed a vote on his nomination citing outstanding questions by some lawmakers. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent, had not announced whether she would support him and Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, also was still considering how to vote, a spokeswoman said this week.
Sen. Ted Cruz, ranking Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee, said late Saturday that it has been clear since his nomination that "Mr. Washington lacked the aviation experience necessary to run the FAA ... The Biden administration must now quickly name someone to head the FAA who has an extensive aviation background, can earn widespread bipartisan support in the Senate, and will keep the flying public safe."
Cruz and other Republicans had said Washington, who retired from the U.S. Army in July 2000, needed a waiver from rules requiring civilian leadership to head the FAA. The Transportation Department's general counsel said Washington was fully qualified and did not need a waiver.
Cruz noted Washington has only about two years of experience as an airport CEO and criticized Washington's inability to answer some aviation questions at his confirmation hearing.
The White House insisted Washington was fully qualified. Cantwell had said he would shakeup the agency saying "we feel that industry and FAA got too cozy."
A White House official had earlier told Reuters "politics must not hold up confirming an administrator to lead the FAA, and we will move expeditiously to nominate a new candidate for FAA administrator."
The official said "an onslaught of unfounded Republican attacks on Mr Washington’s service and experience irresponsibly delayed this process, threatened unnecessary procedural hurdles on the Senate floor, and ultimately have led him to withdraw his nomination today."
Washington was originally nominated in July but did not get a hearing from the Commerce Committee until March 1.
The FAA has had a number of recent safety issues.
In January, the FAA halted all departing passenger airline flights for nearly two hours because of a pilot messaging database outage, the first nationwide ground stop of its kind since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
On Wednesday, the FAA issued a safety alert to airlines, pilots and others about the "need for continued vigilance and attention to mitigation of safety risks" after a series of high-profile near collisions.
Six serious runway incursions have occurred since January that prompted the agency to convene a safety summit last week.
Some industry officials think the White House could name acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen as a new nominee. Nolen, who was named head of the FAA's aviation safety office, has been the acting FAA administrator since April 2022 and has received backing from many Republicans in Congress.
Washington had won support from a wide range of groups, including a number of aviation unions and a group of family members of some killed in a 2019 fatal Boeing 737 MAX crash.
The FAA has been without a permanent administrator for almost a year.
This was the second major Bide nominee to withdraw in recent weeks. Gigi Sohn, his pick for a key fifth seat on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), withdrew dealing a setback for Democrats who have been unable to take control of the telecom regulator for more than two years.
(Reporting by David Shepardson, editing by Deepa Babington and Marguerita Choy, Robert Birsel)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A third air traffic controller has been fired for sleeping on the job, even as some say naps should be allowed during working hours to enhance controller attentiveness.
The termination of the controller followed several highly publicized incidents that have included sleeping controllers, an unresponsive controller watching a movie in Ohio, and an aborted landing of first lady Michelle Obama's plane at Andrews Air Force Base.
The Boeing Field controller inSeattle fired this week fell asleep twice in recent months, once in January and once on April 11, according to a Federal Aviation Administration statement.
In the wake of the various revelations there have been several recent regulation changes, including new guidelines for off-hours, limits on shift swapping, and increased staffing of FAA managers during late night and early morning hours.
A member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Monday that regulators also should consider allowing controlled napping during working hours to combat fatigue.
Mark Rosekind, a fatigue expert, told reporters that scientific studies show short naps can improve performance and alertness.
Rosekind noted that controller fatigue has been an issue raised in policy debates since the early 1980s.
An air traffic controllers group recommended this year that the FAA permit naps on certain shifts, including overnight when more than one controller is on duty.
The FAA has considered permitting naps for controllers but Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood opposes the idea, saying "we're not going to pay controllers to nap."
"My scientific side would say that controlled napping, effective use of caffeine and every science-based strategy that works should be included and available," Rosekind said. "Every one of those, at minimum, should be on the table for consideration."
(Reporting by Wendell Marsh and John Crawley; Editing by Jerry Norton)
WASHINGTON – An official plane carrying US First Lady Michelle Obama had to abort a landing at an air force base near Washington on Monday due to an air traffic controller's error, US media reported Tuesday.
The aircraft carrying her was too close to a 200-ton military cargo jet and had to scrap its final approach to Andrews Air Force Base, a key hub for top US government officials including President Barack Obama, the reports said.
"The aircraft were never in any danger," the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement that confirmed an incident at Andrews but did not explicitly say the first lady was aboard the aircraft directed to veer off.
The Washington Post and ABC television each cited anonymous federal officials familiar with the events.
Controllers at Andrews worried that, as a result of other air traffic officials' mistake, the massive C-17 would not clear the runway at the facility swiftly enough for the first lady's Boeing 737 to land safely.
The Andrews controllers ordered Michelle Obama's flight -- bearing the EXEC1F designation as an aircraft carrying members of the president's family -- to execute a series of turns to put more distance between it and the cargo.
"FAA controllers at Andrews Air Force Base instructed an incoming Boeing 737 on approach to Runway 19 to perform a 'go around' on Monday, April 18, 2011 just after 5 pm because the plane did not have the required amount of separation behind a military C17," the FAA said in its statement.
"The FAA is investigating the incident. The Boeing 737 landed safely after executing the go around," the agency said, without mentioning Michelle Obama.
The FAA has strict standards on how much distance controllers must maintain between planes, because an aircraft's wake causes severe turbulence.
The FAA requires five miles (eight kilometers) between a C-17 and the next airplane, but the first lady's jet was just 3.08 miles (4.8 kilometers) miles away, the Post said.
US air traffic controllers have faced heavy scrutiny recently after a series of incidents in which some fell asleep while on duty, leading officials to announce a new "zero tolerance" approach for such activities.
WASHINGTON - THE US Federal Aviation Administration announced on Saturday it is overhauling work rotations of air traffic controllers after yet another controller fell asleep on a midnight shift.
The FAA said it will prohibit 'scheduling practices that have been identified as those most likely to result in air traffic controller fatigue.' The changes are to be implemented within days.
The announcement followed the suspension early on Saturday of an air traffic controller who fell asleep on duty during the overnight shift at the control center in Miami.
The unidentified controller did not miss any calls from aircraft, the FAA said, but it was the latest in a string of similar incidents that led to the resignation on Thursday of the FAA's head air traffic control, Hank Krakowski.
Even President Barack Obama weighed into the fray on Thursday, seeking to reassure Americans that he was on top of the situation. He told ABC News: 'We've got it under control.' On the latest incident, the FAA said on Saturday that prior to the start of the shift, 'all controllers were given a briefing on professionalism and the importance of reporting to work fit for duty.'
Unlike most of the other cases, in which controllers nodded off while alone, the Miami tower had 12 controllers on duty and two managers. The incident was reported to a manager by another controller.
WASHINGTON — The head of air traffic control in the United States resigned on Thursday after an embarrassing spate of cases in which controllers were found napping on the job.
The resignation of Hank Krakowski was accepted by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chief Randy Babbitt, who promised a major shake-up of the system to win back public trust in its safety.
"Over the last few weeks we have seen examples of unprofessional conduct on the part of a few individuals that have rightly caused the traveling public to question our ability to ensure their safety," he said in a statement.
"This conduct must stop immediately. I am committed to maintaining the highest level of public confidence and that begins with strong leadership."
Babbitt said FAA chief counsel Dave Grizzle would assume the job temporarily while the search for a permanent director of Air Traffic Organization was carried out.
Last month two jets carrying a total of 165 people were forced to land without help at Reagan National Airport, just a few miles from the White House, because the lone controller on the night shift had fallen asleep.
The FAA has revealed that another air traffic controller at a major airport in Seattle has fallen asleep several times, most recently during a morning shift on Monday.
What appeared to be the final straw came on Wednesday when a controller at Reno-Tahoe International Airport in Nevada fell asleep on the job, forcing a medical plane carrying an ill patient to land unaided.
The FAA has also suspended two workers for a March 29 incident in Lubbock, Texas, in which controllers failed to appropriately hand off control of a departing aircraft to a nearby center at Fort Worth.
"I am totally outraged by these incidents," US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a recent statement. "The American public trusts us to run a safe system."
After the incident at Reagan National, LaHood called on Babbitt to review staffing levels at airports across the country and ordered two controllers to be placed on the night shift at the busy Washington airport.
"It is not acceptable to have just one controller in the tower managing air traffic in this critical air space," he said.
An FAA report in February showed an alarming jump between 2007 and 2010 in air traffic errors from 1,040 to 1,887 -- a rise of 81 percent.
Investigators are currently probing a collision on Monday night between an Air France Airbus A380 and a smaller Delta-Comair commuter aircraft as they taxied on the tarmac of John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
Footage aired on NBC New York and available on YouTube at shows the wing of the Air France jet clipping the smaller aircraft and spinning it almost 90 degrees.
A total of 586 passengers and crew were on board the two aircraft when the incident occurred, but no injuries were reported.
