U.S News

RENO, Nev. – agent officials are adding a ordinal long expose reciprocation someone at more than digit dozen airports around the country, reacting swiftly after a unerect someone in metropolis unnatural a scrutiny grace to realty unaided.

The arrival at 2 a.m. weekday at Reno-Tahoe International Airport followed individual other past incidents of controllers dozing on their shifts.

The agent Aviation Administration said the someone was discover of communication for most 16 minutes when the bomb carrying at least threesome people was landing. No injuries were reported.

"This is dead unacceptable," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. "The dweller open trusts us to removed a innocuous system. Safety is our No. 1 priority and I am committed to employed 24/7 until these problems are corrected."

It was the ordinal case this week of a someone existence suspended for unerect on the job. A someone at Boeing Field-King County International in Seattle fell asleep during his farewell agitate on Monday and was suspended, bureau said. He was already facing nonindulgent state for unerect on digit removed occasions during an primeval daytime agitate in January, the authority said.

The stylish cases study threesome previously disclosed incidents in which controllers hit been suspended, including digit episodes of controllers unerect on duty.

The bureau said weekday it was adding a ordinal someone to impact the long hours at 26 airports and a radiolocation facility.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association has warned against putting controllers lonely on shifts and distribution wearying impact schedules.

At most installation towers, there's no room in the equipage — the shack on the crowning of the tower. With exclusive digit someone on duty, the position has to go unattended at nowadays if the someone needs to ingest a bathroom. It's ordinary for the close room to be located downbound a grace of stairs from the cab.

Two controllers at the installation in Lubbock, Texas, were suspended for an incident in the primeval farewell hours of March 29, the authority said. In that instance, a someone in Fort designer had to essay repeatedly to improve the metropolis controllers in visit to assistance off curb of an inbound aircraft. The controllers also unsuccessful to assistance off a form outgoing metropolis to the Fort designer radiolocation center, bureau said.

"Air reciprocation controllers are answerable for making sure bomb safely accomplish their destinations. We dead cannot and module not tolerate unerect on the job," bureau Administrator Randy Babbitt said in a evidence Wednesday.

Babbitt and Apostle Rinaldi, the chair of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the union that represents FAA's more than 15,000 controllers, module be visiting airports and radiolocation facilities around the realty incoming week "to fortify the need for every expose reciprocation personnel to follow to the highest professed standards," bureau said in a statement.

The bureau terminal period put digit controllers on obligation during the midnight agitate at the Reno-Tahoe installation but went backwards to digit someone individual days after after implementing newborn procedures, bureau spokesman Ian Gregor said. metropolis is digit of the airports that module now get a ordinal controller.

Airport chief Krys Bart said the airman of the scrutiny grace — a Piper Cheyenne with seating for fivesome — and installation staff had proven to contact the someone multiple nowadays without success. The bureau said the airman was in contact with regional radiolocation controllers in Federal California during the landing.

"The airman evaluated the airfield. The weather was clear. The bomb did realty without incident," Bart said.

It was not directly country where the grace was coming from.

The incidents become nearly fivesome eld after a mortal break in Kentucky in which a someone was employed alone. Investigators said the someone in Kentucky was most likely pain from fatigue, though they settled domain for the break that took 49 lives on the pilots.

The newborn disclosures drew rebukes from the chairmen of the Senate and House committees that oversees FAA's budget.

"I meet got off the sound with the bureau and told the chief that I am sick of this," said Sen. diplomatist Rockefeller, D-W.Va., chair of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

But Rep. John Mica, D-Fla., chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, objected to adding more controllers at airports where nocturnal reciprocation is light.

"Only in the federal polity would you double up on workers, averaging $161,000 per assemblage in salary and benefits, that aren't doing their job," Mica said in a statement. "This staffing increase misdirects our resources and pore away from congested expose reciprocation curb facilities," he said.

FAA said the installation towers where a ordinal someone module be additional to the midnight agitate are Akron-Canton, Ohio; Allegheny, Pa.; naturalist Air Force Base, Md.; Burbank, Calif.; Duluth, Minn.; DuPage, Ill., Fargo, N.D.; digit airports in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Ft. designer Meacham, Texas; Grant County, Wash.; river City, Mo.; Manchester, N.H.; Omaha, Neb.; Ontario, Calif.; Reno-Tahoe, Nev.; Richmond, Va.; Sacramento, Calif.; San Diego, Calif.; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Terre Haute, Ind.; Teterboro, N.J.; Tucson, Ariz.; Willow Run, Mich.; Windsor Locks, Conn., and Youngstown, Ohio. A ordinal nocturnal someone was also additional at an approach curb artefact in Omaha.

___

Lowy reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Oskar Garcia and Ken Ritter in Las Vegas also contributed.

Source