Kid in charge of air traffic

Well not a great comparison but it highlights why this should never be done... not everyone has the sense to know when things are and aren't appropriate sadly... even when its staring them in the face... in this case it sounds like the kid was properly supervised and not left to do anything that could potentially end badly... another time tho the staff in question might not be so sensible or not have as good judgement and leave the kid to do stuff that results in tragedy.

Although you could question their judgement in letting the kid do it in the first place in the greater scheme of things but thats another story.
 
Yep, he accidentally took the autopilot out. Thats the thing, these people have all the best intentions but crap can hit the fan in these situations.

In this situation a number of things could've gone wrong just because the kid was in the seat. He could've accidentally switched the wind speed display to the opposite end, knocked the ATIS out, knocked into a touch screen that data-linked an incorrect clearance to an aircraft. The possibilities, however unlikely, are endless, and at the end of the day it is peoples lives in the balance. Speaking to pilots is only a part of the job, it requires constant scanning of the runways, approaches and surrounding airspace. Maybe if this had been a small grass strip airfield it may have been acceptable, but it was JFK!!!
 
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Sorry, it wasn't intended as a comparison to the OP, the story just reminded me of that incident as I remember it happening when I grew up.
 
Nix said:
Non-story.

It actually made me smile. It's a shame it's being blown out of all proportion now.
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I agree.

I think the ATC guy should just get a reprimand and nothing more. Like others have said, all the kid did was repeat what his dad said - it's not like he left his son in charge whilst he went to chat up the office hotty.
 
Madness and typical of the world these days to overreact so much. I used to love going to my dad's work at a Volvo main dealer and play on the 4 post lifts etc. Repeating a father's instructions over a radio is nothing.
 
Quite shocking, and the pilot's reaction would suggest that this sort of thing is nothing unusual. You do not take risks with people's lives, quite frankly these idiots deserve criminal charges on top of any disciplinary action.
 
neodude said:
Yep, he accidentally took the autopilot out. Thats the thing, these people have all the best intentions but crap can hit the fan in these situations.

In this situation a number of things could've gone wrong just because the kid was in the seat. He could've accidentally switched the wind speed display to the opposite end, knocked the ATIS out, knocked into a touch screen that data-linked an incorrect clearance to an aircraft. The possibilities, however unlikely, are endless, and at the end of the day it is peoples lives in the balance.
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Concidering he was giving clearance to takeoffs verbally I seriously doubt he had the chance of accidentally doing any of the above, and the controller was supervising no doubt anyway.
Its not much different from unqualified baby air traffic controllers in my eyes, he had a qualified screen who would have stepped in if flight safety became a concern.


What I find funniest is that people actually listen to and record live ATC, its a bit sad...
Fair enough if its your job or you're in training, but the need to stream live stuff?? Sad acts whoever listen to it!
 
I think due to the fact that this is a role that involves the safety of many peoples lives, and requires the operator to be fully trained and licensed, not to mention although some of the pilots might take it in jest, there may be those who won't look at it that way.

If one person does it and gets away with it, then what's to stop them bringing anyone else in to the control tower for a go? You also have to remember that not everybody feels safe flying, and knowing that there life is being handled by an untrained child isn't going to go down very well. So really they have to make an example to prevent it happening again, whether that be a dismissal, or at the least a long suspension.
 
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