Awesome! 6-yo Kid Directs Air Traffic at JFK

[Acturus]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/...n6261845.shtml

(CBS) The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating how a child was allowed to direct air traffic at the nation's sixth-busiest airport - New York's JFK International.

As CBS News Correspondent Kelly Wallace reports, the Feb. 17 incident involved a child on the radio to pilots of planes awaiting takeoff. The boy was allowed to make at least five transmissions to commercial jets.

In tapes obtained by CBS News, the boy is clearly heard:

Boy: AMX 403, Contact departures. Adios.

Pilot: Contact departures. Aeromexico 403. Adios.

An adult -- reportedly a controller -- made sure the pilots were in on the joke, Wallace says.

"That's what you get guys when the kids are out of school!" the adult says on the tapes.

Another transmission from the tape:

Boy: Jet Blue 171 cleared for takeoff.

Pilot: Cleared for takeoff. Jet blue 171.

Boy: Jet Blue 171 -- contact departures.

Pilot: Over to departures. Jet blue 171. Awesome job. (chuckle)

In a statement, the FAA says, "Pending ... our investigation, the employees involved in this incident are not controlling air traffic. This behavior is not acceptable and does not demonstrate the kind of professionalism expected from all faa employees."

Air control towers are highly secure areas, Wallace points out, and it's still not clear how this could have been allowed.

CBS News Travel Editor Peter Greenberg says, "You're dealing with two separate violations here: access to the tower itself, and access to radio frequencies. And you're dealing with a potentially dangerous situation. … The bottom line here is any air traffic controller on the ground in that particular case who was handling departure control would be multi-tasking, talking to more than one pilot at the same time. In order for his son, or whoever the kid is, to make those radio calls, he had to relinquish control of the microphone and stop talking to those other pilots.

"You're talking about multiple runways with both departure and approach, and one miscue can lead to disaster. The good news is, of course, if there is any good news out of this, is that this happened on the ground, and not at an air traffic control center, where you're dealing with many more planes in the air in terms of aircraft separation."

Usually, says Greenberg, "No one has an opportunity to talk on that microphone other than a licensed air traffic controller.

" ... Ironically, this incident happens at a time when the air traffic controller staffing levels are at a 16-year low. This is one silly way to actually promote that incident."

There's a video on the story's page at CBS.

I kept thinking about this for some reason:

http://mentalfloss.cachefly.net/wp-c...9/02/Oveur.jpg

You ever seen a grown man naked?

[Kilhart]

lol sick.. air traffic controllers at JFK make six figures. Good to know that the job can be handled by a 6 year old.

[Jodwahh]

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e1...7608262555.jpg

[Mizango]

I saw that on GMA this morning as I was getting dressed for work and if I'm not mistaken the parent of the kid as well as the shift supervisor have both been fired. Even though they apparently cleared it with ALL of the pilots before hand, they were still terminated.

Shit is awesome but sucks at the same time. I think the airport used the PC term of "permanently relieved them of their duties". I dont agree with the punishment at all, perhaps the company should do away with bring your kid to work day then.

[Kerberoz]

...so they were fired over telling the kid a few lines to say while they stood by and supervised, fully capable of taking control of the situation if necessary?

[Abandon]

Awesome, sucks that they were fired. Good to know a kid can be trained to do the shit they get serious bank for.

[Purrrfect]

So perhaps letting a kid see what an air traffic controller does for a job (and fully supervised) is enough to get you fired? Fuck humans, we can't destroy this planet fast enough...

[*Shinzon*]

Sucks but after 9/11 I'm surprised the FBI just didn't black bag everyone. You'd have to be stupid to fuck around at an airport for anything.

[Pirian]

Sucks but after 9/11 I'm surprised the FBI just didn't black bag everyone. You'd have to be stupid to fuck around at an airport for anything.

Funny you mention 911 right as Purrrfect gets 911 post count, lol

[*Shinzon*]

Funny you mention 911 right as Purrrfect gets 911 post count, lol

Lol just notice, that was not intended D:

[Omniyoji]

Just read this about 10 mins ago and I think they should've went a bit easier on the dad. They could've at least gave him some kind of harsh warning cause nothing severe happened that day.

Lucky kid tho!

[Deejay]

Obviously, none of you have ever had to deal with the epic headache that is JFK airport.

Sounds like the kid was doing a better job than most of their current staff. I say let him stay.

[Pirian]

Obviously, none of you have ever had to deal with the epic headache that is JFK airport.

Sounds like the kid was doing a better job than most of their current staff. I say let him stay.

I've been there! well, sorta. I have this innate ability to fall fast asleep minutes after stepping onto an airplane. It's only good fortune if I actually make it to my seat in time

[Lbelle]

Just read this about 10 mins ago and I think they should've went a bit easier on the dad. They could've at least gave him some kind of harsh warning cause nothing severe happened that day.

Lucky kid tho!

So if something severe happened, THEN it would be a good time to fire the dad? I think they're completely justified for firing the dad. Air control isn't something to fuck around with, regardless if the pilots were in on it or not.

If they hadn't fired the dad/whoever else was involved it leads this kind of thing open to happen again, where something could possibly go wrong the next time.

It's cool the kid got the chance to try this out, but not cool cause now his dad is fucked out of a really nice job.

[Rhinox]

So if something severe happened, THEN it would be a good time to fire the dad? I think they're completely justified for firing the dad. Air control isn't something to fuck around with, regardless if the pilots were in on it or not.

If they hadn't fired the dad/whoever else was involved it leads this kind of thing open to happen again, where something could possibly go wrong the next time.

It's cool the kid got the chance to try this out, but not cool cause now his dad is fucked out of a really nice job.

An adult -- reportedly a controller -- made sure the pilots were in on the joke, Wallace says.

"That's what you get guys when the kids are out of school!" the adult says on the tapes.

What could have gone bad?

[Titanss]

I looked for a good Airplane quote but couldn't find one

[Rhinox]

I looked for a good Airplane quote but couldn't find one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIAUbPDgaAg

[Lucavi]

So if something severe happened, THEN it would be a good time to fire the dad? I think they're completely justified for firing the dad. Air control isn't something to fuck around with, regardless if the pilots were in on it or not.

If they hadn't fired the dad/whoever else was involved it leads this kind of thing open to happen again, where something could possibly go wrong the next time.

It's cool the kid got the chance to try this out, but not cool cause now his dad is fucked out of a really nice job.

His dad wasn't "fucked" out of anything. He made the choice to take his kid there and let his kid do it. He knew the risks involved if the shit leaked out, and it did.

I think it was awesome, but that's what risks are all about. This time he got burned.

[GRT]

Sucks but after 9/11 I'm surprised the FBI just didn't black bag everyone. You'd have to be stupid to fuck around at an airport for anything.

That's a crude reference. The FAA was able to land every single airplane over the skies of half a continent in under an hour that day. The Airport control/air traffic part was arguably the least of all the failures on 9/11.

[Ksandra]

If it's true that every pilot knew this was going to happen, then really they shouldn't have fired the dad. That sucks :/