Americans were alarmed when it was reported in March that an air traffic controller at Washington’s Reagan National Airport not only was the lone controller on duty during the overnight shift, but actually fell asleep on the job!
Two airliners had to land without assistance from the airport tower. Fortunately they did not crash.
Many surely hoped that scary incident was isolated.
But it wasn’t.
In Reno, Nev., a medical flight carrying a sick patient recently had to land without aid from the tower – again, apparently because the only air traffic controller on duty was sleeping. For 16 minutes, the plane tried to raise the tower without success. Ultimately a faraway radar controller based in California managed to help the plane land.