It's funny, and tragic, all at the same time that we're talking about such an instance and it has made SUCH a headline....

We have to much media and not enough news. They actually have a person assigned to Twitter on some of the entertainment shows pretending to cover news. The kid on the radio was cute and I am sure well supervised. My guess is that everyone was more alert than normal while these transmissions occurred.

You are right, I did not answer your question. Here it is. No. As far as his judgment: BA in Headwork.

My guess, he and all the rest of the crew and passengers would probably die. What if any of those things happened while he was talking to a regular controller? Or worse what if the enterprise comes back in time and traps the acft in its tractor beam and the jet breaks up. No way Mr. Scott could beam up all those passengers with just 6 positions available.

Best post on the topic. Sad that this point is lost amongst all the self-proclaimed aviation "experts" aka the media.

Someone should write a letter to the editor.

WOW, they just played the guy's (JFK controller) daughter who he let control airplanes the next day. She was really very good.

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.

WHY HAVE I NOT SEEN SULLY INTERVIEWED ONCE ON THIS? seriously folks...what would sully do?

Several Things Wrong
 

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:)

I didn't know that was not allowed. I guess I will notify the FAA about the phone number at the entrance to the tower for visitors to call if they want to go up at my airport.