Aviation Professionalism? Control Tower Unstaffed and Cop Shoots Out Airliner Window

 Last week, the big aviation gaffe was the revelation that a JFK controller allowed his children to speak over the radio. Much was written about it and most pilots would agree, the act of a child speaking over the radio was not unsafe. My first reaction was that this was much ado about nothing. But then I realized, having a controller’s child in the tower cab could have created a distraction that might have led to an incident, or as controllers call it “a deal.” 

FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt is...

 right to focus on professionalism, and I’ll talk in a moment about just what that is. In my opinion, the controllers and supervisor involved in the JFK incident should not be fired. Perhaps a reprimand is appropriate, but let’s get them back to work and focus on more serious breaches of professionalism.

While the FAA controller story got worldwide attention, here are two stories this week that have flown under the radar, but which were far more serious. If someone needs to get fired for a breach in professionalism, the people involved in these stories are much better candidates.

Cops Shoot Out Airliner Window

In the more serious of the two incidents, an Air Austral Boeing 777-300 parked on Reunion Island, just off the coast of Madagascar, was being used by the local police force for a training exercise. They were simulating a rescue of hostages after a hijacking of the aircraft. According to AvHerald.com, “The police forces attempting to free the hostages brought stairs to the right hand front door, got up the stairs and opened the door for a surprise attack. But one of the policemen had live bullets instead of blank cartridges in his gun when he stormed the aircraft, and thus shot through the window of the left hand front entrance with the bullet going through all panes of the window. Nobody was injured.

“The airplane however had to remain on the ground to have that window replaced and therefore could not perform its scheduled flight UU-975 to Paris Charles de Gaulle (France) scheduled to depart in the evening. Air Austral instead dispatched a Boeing 777-200 registration F-OMAY, which however could not accommodate all booked passengers, so that a number had to be rebooked onto other flights.”

Recently, I witnessed the SWAT team in a major city practice breaching an airliner. The photo accompanying this post is one I took with my phone while watching. What impressed me most was not the breach, but the inspection of SWAT team members just prior to the exercise. A supervisor checked each officer’s gear for proper fit and attachment and weapons were checked for ammunition. They exhibited exacting attention to detail, unlike the police force on Reunion Island.

ATC Tower Left Unstaffed – Plane Diverted

In another inexcusable lapse of professionalism, a Ryanair 737-800 with 150 passengers aboard was diverted from its scheduled landing at Leipzig/Altenburg (Germany) because contact could not be made with the tower. The plane landed instead at Berlin’s Schoenefeld airport, where passengers were bussed to their destination.

Again, according to AvHearld.com, “The ‘Tower Company’ responsible for providing air traffic control services at Altenburg Airport said, that there had been a misunderstanding with an unclear duty roster, so that the tower controller scheduled to be on duty did not turn up for work. Another controller became available only 2.5 hours later. An internal inquiry has been launched.”

Apparently in Germany, when a tower is closed it becomes Class G airspace. All airline flights are conducted under IFR, and in Germany, airliners are apparently not permitted to fly IFR in Class G airspace.

At quick check of Ryanair’s schedule shows that Flight 8926 is scheduled to arrive just after noon each day. I cannot imagine any FAA employee ever leaving a tower unstaffed if the next person didn’t show up. Apparently the standard for professionalism is a little different at Atlenburg.

Professionalism

So what is professionalism? David Maister in his book TRUE PROFESSIONALISM says “Real professionalism has little, if anything, to do with which business you are in, what role within that business you perform, or how many degrees you have. Rather it implies a pride in work, a commitment to quality, a dedication to the interests of the client, and a sincere desire to help.” Elsewhere he says it’s “believing passionately in what you do, never compromising your standards and values, and caring about your clients, your people, and your own career."

Finally, “Real professionalism is about attitudes, and perhaps even about character”….yet… “most firms hiring processes are about educational qualifications and technical skills.”

I can only think of one FAA controller I ever encountered who was consistently unprofessional. Fortunately, the FAA realized that too. It took years, but eventually he was moved out of his job and no longer works for the FAA. 

The JFK incident was a lapse in what I’m sure is otherwise very professional work at JFK. Let’s get those controllers back to work and focus on more serious lapses in professionalism. Speaking of which, as I finish this article, I see that a small plane violated Washington D.C. airspace and was forced to land at Frederick, MD last night. Two days ago, the same thing happened and an aircraft was forced to land at Roanoke. What do you think of these pilots and their professionalism?

Comments

[Matthew Stibbe]

The German thing is not unique. I flew to Troyes last year and the tower had shut down for lunch. Paris control held me for about 20m and then told me to land and call them when safely down so that they could close my flight plan. But I'm not an airliner so less of a problem for me, I guess.

[Charles LaBow]

RE: Professionalism
Many, many, years ago, when I was a young, new pilot, I remember reading an article in the AOPA magazine about a guy flying his airplane, managing to get lost, and landing at a random airport where he walked into the office to ask where he was. The commentary from the AOPA at the time was something like, "ah, that's good, old fashioned flying at it's best." As a student at a major flight school, studying to be an aviation professional, I found the article so "unprofessional" that I dropped out of the AOPA for 20 something years, as their attitude about the incident was not the type of aviation I wanted to be associated with.

About 10 years ago, I rejoined the AOPA. I think they have finally come to the realization that flying is a sport/business that demands high levels of professionalism at all times. Other than pilots, most people do not find airplanes and things flying overhead as amazing or fascinating like they once did, before World War II. While some pilots still think it's fun to "buzz" the field to impress their friends, most people pick-up the phone, call in a noise complaint or attend meetings trying to get the airport closed as a hazard.

In regards to the controller/kid issue at KJFK, to me it's a non-issue, blown out of proportion by mindless reporters with a 24/7 news cycle to fill. Maybe a supervisor should talk the controller(s) involved, but no one should get fired over this. (The kid's "on-air" presence was better than many of the controllers in the Southern U.S.)

[Randy Garmon]

I think you're missing the point. What the JFK controller did had nothing to do with professionalism. Bringing a child to work at an air traffic facility is not often done. But it's not unheard of either. ATC is not one of those jobs you can have small kids hanging around and making noise....like small kids do. I brought my children to work a few times over my FAA career and it wasn't a big deal. What the JFK controller did to cross the line was allow a little kid to talk on the radio to a live aircraft. And he didn't just converse with a live aircraft, he issued several control instructions. That's when the visit became reckless. That was stupid and if you ask that controller about it in retrospect, he'll also say it was stupid. But that doesn't make him less than a professional. And comparing what he did to those two incidents overseas is like comparing apples to oranges. Not related even a little. A swat team member blowing out an airplane's window when he thought he was loaded with blanks is not being unprofessional either. It was just plain stupid because he didn't check his magazine. As far as the closed control tower in Germany, there must be more to that story than you know. The approach controller who was handling that jet should have called the tower over the landline and determined why the controller there didn't take the handoff on the jet.