Controller seemed to be doing the jobs of 2 people: former air traffic manager
Former FAA air traffic manager Michael McCormick can hear the “anguish” in the voice of the controller who professed he “messed up” after Sunday’s deadly crash.
But he also noticed something else in those recordings: The voice directing the truck to cross the runway was the same voice clearing planes for landing.
“So my assessment is that this controller is performing the job of two controllers,” McCormick, now an associate professor in air traffic management, told CBC Radio’s As It Happens.
He noted that a similar situation played out during January’s deadly mid-air collision near Washington.
Short-staffing, he says, is “a chronic problem” at the FAA, and one that’s been going on for years.
“What that can contribute to are controllers that have to work six-day workweeks [and] do 10-hour work days. All of that can contribute to fatigue, and then fatigue can contribute to risk.”
During the news conference at LaGuardia, two journalists asked Duffy about reports that claimed only one air traffic controller was on duty at the time of the incident. The U.S. secretary of transportation said those reports are incorrect.