Originally Posted by
Phantom Flyer
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.
The FAA put a hold on visitors to ATC control facilities only after this incident. The kid was fine in the tower with dad. Perfectly "legal", provided he prominently displayed his visitor ID (not all FAA facilities have the ID's), and had an escort (dad). My kids were in two of the three FAA facilities that I worked at, and they've ridden in the back of airplanes that I flew.
I'm as guilty as many pilots and controllers... my kids have talked on the radio!!! Granted, in a time before FOX news, internet monitoring of ATC frequencies, and a current national culture that fires people and revokes their licenses for poor judgement that turns out ok.