Factor
Woodstock, VA
Male, 65
My life in ATC began with 4 years Air Force then another 30 years with the Federal Aviation Admin. working tower & radar at some big international airports. I fought in the 1981 war with PATCO, survived the strike and kept a job that was just too exhilarating to walk away from. While there was nothing better than working airplanes, I did move on through several air traffic supervisory and management positions. It was a long, crazy career but I wouldn't trade a moment of it for love or lucre!
That’s a tough one. There were several of each over the years. I remember seeing a large airliner make a hard landing during a severe thunderstorm. It went off the runway and broke in half in the grass. It was raining heavily when I saw the passengers come scurrying out of the wreckage. Fortunately, there was no fire and not a single fatality! I also recall watching a small, twin engine commuter aircraft take off. A couple hundred feet off the ground, the nose pitched up, the plane tilted sideways and fell. It made a large, smoking hole in the grass and no one survived. "I'll have these moments to remember."
Every November I recall a particular accident involving a small, privately owned, airplane. The pilot had flown into an airport we had control jurisdiction over. Another fellow and I were working the radar sector when he later took off with his young son. It was the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving and they were headed home for the holiday. All was normal as the plane climbed to four thousand feet. It was then that we lost radio and radar contact with the flight. Local authorities quickly found the main wreckage site. One wing was missing and later located a mile or so away. No survivors. That one really bothered me.
The near misses I’ve seen weren’t as memorable – except for one. I was supervising the radar operation when one of my controllers issued a turn to one of the airliners he was working. To make a long story short, the pilot turned the wrong way. The turn took him directly into the path of another airliner flying at the same altitude. Both flights were operating in the clouds and couldn’t see each other. The two radar targets merged into one and my heart nearly stopped. In my head, I could see the two aircraft colliding, the fireball, the falling wreckage and the next day’s headlines. It was the most horrifying moment of my life. Just seconds later, when the radar antenna scanned that area again, I saw the two targets moving away from each other. I nearly fell over.
And they wonder why controllers drink.
Thanks for the question!
Factor
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Requirements have changed some since I signed on. For the absolute latest developments, I suggest doing a web search for air traffic controller education requirements. The last time I checked, applicants had to enroll in one of the education programs authorized by the FAA, pass a pre-employment aptitude test for the job and have either completed four years of college, have three years of work experience or a combination of both. It was also possible to get in with military experience. Once accepted into training, expect 12 weeks of intensive instruction at FAA’s Academy in Oklahoma City (a great town!). It’s a tough three months and about 50 percent of the trainees are washed out during this phase. Graduates are assigned to an air traffic control facility where they start off with more classroom time. Then it’s on to the control rooms for on-the-job training. From there, it can take between 18 months and three years to become a fully certified controller. If you are considering ATC as a career, those are the tangible requirements. After many years in the profession, I can tell you that the intangibles are at least as important. Maybe more so. ATC can be either the best or the worst job ever; depending on your attitude and expectations. Like a drug; it’ll take you high as the sky. Just be aware that what goes up must come down. Things can and will go wrong now and then. It happens to all of us but when it happens to controllers, it’s a hard landing. Cheers, Factor
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This is another great question for anyone considering an ATC profession! Actually; if you are 31, you are already too old to become an FAA controller. Here’s an excerpt from their policy; “...a maximum age of 30 years is established for entry into civilian air traffic control positions in the Federal Aviation Administration...” The only exception I know of would apply if you have prior military experience as a controller. The are private companies who provide ATC services but I have no knowledge of their age requirements.
At the other end of an ATC career, the FAA also has a maximum retention age for those “actively engaged in the separation and control of air traffic.” It states that, with a few exceptions, controllers are required to hang up their headsets at age 56.
Yes, you can work as an ATC after age 31 but learning the job and developing the necessary skills is best done at an earlier age. Most controllers I worked with were at peak performance in their thirties. I started my ATC career at age 19. Regarding that mandatory retirement age, I’ll say that ATC is a young person’s game. Depending on where controllers work and how much traffic volume and complexity they have to deal with – they can lose their edge at a fairly early age. Sometimes it’s best to quit while you’re ahead.
Cheers,
Factor
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Yes. Air traffic controllers are the ‘all seeing eyes’ of aviation. We watch everything that goes on in ATC to try and prevent the things that go wrong in ATC. Things still go wrong every now and then and it’s often because we weren’t watching! A busy controller has so many things to watch that could, in time, develop into bad situations. The trick is to prioritize and know where to look first!
There are enroute radar facilities (Centers) watching the planes you see pulling those long, white contrails in the high skies. We have terminal radar facilities (TRACONs) working the planes into and out of the airports. Then there are the tower controllers who are right there where the rubber meets the runway. If the airport has an operating control tower; you can be sure there are sets of controller eyes watching every plane that lands, takes off or taxies. Whether looking through a radar screen or tower window; the controller’s eyes are irreplaceable tools of the trade.
Thanks for writing!
Factor
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Dry Cleaner
Why don't more dry cleaners stay open late?
Stand-Up Comedian
What types of crowds are the worst for you to to perform for?
Beauty Queen
Is there truth to the stereotypes of “pageant parents?”
Wow. Now there’s a question more chilling than the beer coolers we kept in the tower! If the FAA had banned “Airplane” quotes, it would undoubtedly have lead to even more fistfights with those wimps in Management. Not that knocking a Supervisor down the tower steps would be a big problem – but it might have wakened the controllers trying to get some sleep downstairs! Then we’d have TWO problems; pissed off controllers and the indefinite loss of a Supervisor who kept us all supplied with amphetamines, beer and glue! Damn! Everybody would have to go back to rehab; where the meals are worse than airline food! Thinking about that is even scarier than “Airplane!” and all the other aviation documentaries!
What? You thought “Airplane!” was a comedy??? Jeezus!
Real life. “Thank God it’s only a motion picture!”
Factor :))
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Complete communications failures are extremely rare. What we see more often is known as a “stuck mike.” That’s when one aircraft on a control frequency transmits (usually by pushing a button) and that button sticks. This leaves the aircraft’s radio in a continuous transmit mode; meaning no one else on that control frequency is able to transmit – including the controller! (And they wonder why we drink.) It’s like using a walkie-talkie to communicate with with twelve other people. If you make a call and your transmit button sticks – everyone will hear you but will not be able to respond. In such situations, the pilot won’t become aware of what has happened until he or she realizes things have become unusually quiet! Hopefully, the other pilots on that frequency will quickly recognize the stuck mike situation and call the air traffic facility on another frequency. Eventually, the pilot with the problem will realize what happened and check his or her mike button. Then life is good again!
If an aircraft experiences a complete radio equipment failure, the pilot can select a special code that is sent from a different kind of non-voice transmitter. That code lets ATC know the aircraft has lost its radios. This information is forwarded to all other ATC facilities along the aircraft’s route. Controllers will keep other known traffic out of the way till the flight lands at its destination. Fortunately, today’s technology and the aircrafts equipment redundancy make such situations highly unlikely.
Good question - thanks for writing!
Factor
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Thanks for your questions. They’re good ones and they bring back a few memories!
In my world, which was a terminal facility where controllers were required to work in both the tower and radar room (a configuration that the FAA is moving away from), there was one Supervisor in the tower cab. Down in the radar room there was at least one Supervisor walking the floor and sometimes two if the demand required it. The day and evening shifts also had a second line Supervisor known as an Area Manager who manned the desk and was responsible for the entire operation. Although job titles have changed, you’ll still find a first line supervisor in most towers, plus a number of them in the radar room. That number will vary depending on how many control positions there are in the room.
Controllers didn’t disagree with each other very often but when they did; the exchange could become pretty intense! Sometimes these differences would be worked out later on in the break room or somewhere else after the shift ended.
In the thick of battle, Supervisors would often ‘ask’ controllers to do certain things they felt would facilitate the movement of traffic. Being able to circulate among all the control positions, a good Supervisor was able to maintain an overall picture of what was going on and act on that knowledge. Individual controllers needed to focus on their own area of responsibility and didn’t have the broad perspective Supervisors had. We were free to disagree with a Supervisor’s direction but compliance was mandatory; unless we were willing to face a charge of insubordination. That didn’t happen very often.
At one time in the late 1970s, there was an Article in the Professional Air Traffic Controller Organization (PATCO) Contract with FAA that attempted to address professional disagreements between controllers and Supervisors. The Article absolved the controller of responsibility for any negative outcomes that might occur from following the Supervisor’s order. It worked like this. If a Supervisor ordered you to do something either you or the union believed was unsafe; you would inform him or her that you were invoking that Article. Then you’d comply with the order. I never actually saw anything go wrong in these situations. In those days of constant friction between PATCO and FAA, I think that Article was simply a way for controllers to poke Management in the eye. It made some some people feel better but had no tangible effect on things.
Thanks again,
Factor
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