Personal Injury Law

Controller was on phone during Hudson River crash

By Hurley, McKenna & Murtz

One personal phone call made the difference for two air traffic controllers who are being removed from duty as a result. The AP reports, ?the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statements Thursday that the controller at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and his supervisor have been placed on administrative leave because the controller was involved in ?apparently inappropriate conversations? at the time of the [midair] crash between a small plane and a tour helicopter that killed nine people? (Joan Lowy, FindLaw News 8/14).

Although officials have said that the phone call probably had no impact on the tragic crash, it exposed several flaws in the air traffic control room including that the supervisor was not in the room as required, and other "unacceptable conduct" including talking on the phone while controlling aircraft.

Air Traffic Controllers are expected to be alert at all times, and are given a short break approximately every two hours for this reason. There is a lot that is at stake if they do not perform their job satisfactorily, and as a personal injury lawyer I am hopeful that this tragic situation will serve as an impetus for more careful air traffic controlling.

Full post as published by Illinois Car and Truck Accident Lawyer Blog on August 28, 2009 (boomark / email).