Larry Dighera wrote:

websurf1 wrote:
That giant sucking sound you would hear would be every traffic
controller immediately retiring, quiting, or otherwise exiting.
Furthermore, there would be no job applicants under those conditions.
NOW, who ya gonna call?

Of course your opinion regarding the dearth of ATC applicants is not
backed by any credible supporting facts. So with the same underlng
evidence, I'll contend that there will still be an adiquate supply of
responsible talant to fulfill ATC positions.

There isn't a dearth now. But I will prognosticate that dearth if the
controllers were to be held _personally_ liable for their mistakes.
Currently, controllers can be fired or otherwise disciplined through
their job structure. Any controllers reading this will correct that
statement if it is incorrect. That's a far cry different from
personal liability for something. Especially in today's litigious USA,
virtually any mistake {regardless of who makes it :( } would
result in a lawsuit. We all have responsibilities and consequences in
our jobs, but legal liability like this would dry up the applicant pool
to a trivial mud puddle.

Actually, this experiment is already being run. In many areas it is
getting harder to find an ob-gyn doctor. The malpractice insurance,
even if the doctor hasn't had a lawsuit, is prohibitively high.
Doctors hate this situation, patients don't benefit from it (If you
don't have a doctor, who ya gonna sue?). The only group benefitting is
the insurance companies.

Besides, no one ELSE in this country is held responsible for their
mistakes (it sometimes seems like that, anyway...)
Have you ever received a traffic citation? Did you pay the fine?
That method of law enforcement is a far cry different from personal
liability for mistakes.
First, _I_ am only in trouble to the limit of the fine, set by statute.
More to the point, the cop isn't liable at all, even if the ticket is
a boo-boo (unless I could demonstrate that he broke a law of some sort,
like a Rodney King beating thing.)

I also had a cop stop me once by mistake. He was not personally
financially liable for that mistake. If he were, he likely would not
accept the job. Who would need the headache? (There's enough people
out there who think cops are the bad guys anyway. Once in a while they
are of course, but it is rare.)

BTW, see the post by "Newps". Sounds like he is a controller. Sounds
like he just gave you his answer. He is probably credible since it is
his decision.


Unfortunately, feeling real bad for a long time doesn't provide the
same level of motivation that paying for their mistake would.
Who sank your rubber ducky? Methinks you are way too high on wanting
to make people pay.

I also observed a tower controller make a couple mistakes in a very
busy pattern. It was still up to us pilots to see the problem and take
proper action.
Or at least request clearification from ATC.
The situation did not need clarification. It needed some alertness and
some proper, though not immediate, action. No big deal. I left the
pattern a bit later to allow some traffic to decrease.