SeaTac Tower: Nobody Home

"Philip S." wrote in message
...
Sorry if this has been mentioned before, but I just saw a story on my
local
news (in the Pacific Northwest) about an incident at SeaTac airport on
April
11th, and this is the first I've heard of it.

Apparently, there was a period of about 30 minutes on that day (no mention
as to what time of day) when no incoming flights could get a response from
the tower. The security guard at the tower was eventually asked to
investigate, and it seems that the lone controller on duty had fallen
asleep. The story ended by noting that the FAA now required two
controllers
on duty in the SeaTac tower at all times.

Anybody else hear of this? I'm guessing that it couldn't have been during
a
busy time, as that would have caused utter chaos. I'm also guessing that
this sort of thing isn't unprecedented.

Well what about this one then!

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100n...name_page.html

A PILOT told holidaymakers he could not land at Cardiff International
Airport because an air traffic controller was on a tea break.

Bemused and frustrated passengers on board the flight from Tenerife spent
almost half-an- hour circling the airport until the plane was finally
allowed to land.

The captain of the flight, which landed at 12.40am on Saturday, reportedly
told his passengers that he had "never encountered anything like it" in all
the years he had been flying.............................

Also remember the mid-air in Switzerland a couple of years ago where the
controller took a break in the middle of the night.

Mike Schumann

"Chris" wrote in message
...

"Philip S." wrote in message
...
Sorry if this has been mentioned before, but I just saw a story on my
local
news (in the Pacific Northwest) about an incident at SeaTac airport on
April
11th, and this is the first I've heard of it.

Apparently, there was a period of about 30 minutes on that day (no
mention
as to what time of day) when no incoming flights could get a response
from
the tower. The security guard at the tower was eventually asked to
investigate, and it seems that the lone controller on duty had fallen
asleep. The story ended by noting that the FAA now required two
controllers
on duty in the SeaTac tower at all times.

Anybody else hear of this? I'm guessing that it couldn't have been during
a
busy time, as that would have caused utter chaos. I'm also guessing that
this sort of thing isn't unprecedented.

Well what about this one then!

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100n...name_page.html

A PILOT told holidaymakers he could not land at Cardiff International
Airport because an air traffic controller was on a tea break.

Bemused and frustrated passengers on board the flight from Tenerife spent
almost half-an- hour circling the airport until the plane was finally
allowed to land.

The captain of the flight, which landed at 12.40am on Saturday, reportedly
told his passengers that he had "never encountered anything like it" in
all the years he had been flying.............................

Mike Schumann wrote:

Also remember the mid-air in Switzerland a couple of years ago where the
controller took a break in the middle of the night.

Are you stating that the only controller on that night took a break, which
led to the mid-air?

If so, that is incorrect. There was one controller and he was working both
the high airspace and an approach. The controller couldn't reach the tower
of the airport to properly hand off an Airbus flying the approach, which
raised his workload. When he spotted the potential conflict between the
Russian aircraft and DHL 757, he issued a descend command to the Russian
airliner.

Roughly at the same time, the copilot of the DHL 757 left to use the
bathroom, and when the TCAS alert sounded in their cockpit, the flying
pilot responded but did not make the call that they were descending. When
the copilot returned, he made the call, but was stepped on by another
transmission.

Don Brown has a column about this accident and he describes all the links
that led up to this accident:

http://avweb.com/news/columns/191072-1.html

--
Peter

"Peter R." wrote:

Mike Schumann wrote:

Also remember the mid-air in Switzerland a couple of years ago where the
controller took a break in the middle of the night.

Are you stating that the only controller on that night took a break, which
led to the mid-air?

Ah, disregard my post, Mike. Perhaps you were referencing the second
controller taking a break. I initially interpreted your post to mean the
one and only controller took a break, as I most likely was misled by the
subject of this thread.

--
Peter

I have not read the journalist's report, but if he is suggesting the accident
was not the controller's fault, or was a shared fault with the flight crew,
that is in contradiction to the official reports at the time. The Swiss
controller could not be reached because he was on the phone for personal
reasons - the emergency phone, which French controllers tried to use to
contact him, was out of order. The Swiss controller then issued an avoidance
order which was in contradiction to the TCAS order, and this was the direct
cause of the accident.

GF



In article ,
says...


If so, that is incorrect. There was one controller and he was working both
the high airspace and an approach. The controller couldn't reach the tower
of the airport to properly hand off an Airbus flying the approach, which
raised his workload. When he spotted the potential conflict between the
Russian aircraft and DHL 757, he issued a descend command to the Russian
airliner.

Roughly at the same time, the copilot of the DHL 757 left to use the
bathroom, and when the TCAS alert sounded in their cockpit, the flying
pilot responded but did not make the call that they were descending. When
the copilot returned, he made the call, but was stepped on by another
transmission.

Don Brown has a column about this accident and he describes all the links
that led up to this accident:

http://avweb.com/news/columns/191072-1.html

--
Peter

Greg Farris wrote:

snip
The Swiss controller then issued an avoidance
order which was in contradiction to the TCAS order, and this was the direct
cause of the accident.

How was the controller going to know that his avoidance order conflicted
with the TCAS resolutions?

--
Peter