Originally Posted by
tuna hp
As an air passenger and non-pilot I am not scared by this at all. I believe that pilots and air traffic controllers have displayed to me a level of professionalism that far exceeds the level of pay and respect that they get. Who knows how many doctors or lawyers bring their kids into their office and allow them to do filing or photocopying. If the files were to be misplaced there would be serious problems, but nobody questions those professional judgments because we trust doctors and lawyers to be sure that mistakes will not be made.
If it was not disrupting operations or safety, I don't see whats so wrong about it. I heard a recording and it seemed like all the pilots really thought that it was cute.
Well, it violates a number of rules. What was a non-FAA employee doing in the cab to begin with ? That is an FAA violation, whether he was a relative or not, under the new security regulations. Secondly, the fact that a non-qualified person was transmitting instructions regarding aircraft movements is a violation of FAA policy. That's not an opinion,it's a fact.
Please don't counter with the BS "it was nice that he took his son to work with him and let him pretend to be a controller". I agree no damage was done, the father was obviously monitoring the situation and yes, the electronic and print media made a circus of this isolated incident.
Of greater concern is the fact that the circus hype created by this incident has not done anything in terms of selling "professionalism" in this industry at a time when we need all the friends we can muster in Washington.
G'Day Mates
