"Planes wait while controller takes potty break"

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Planes wait while controller takes potty break
Cable News Network (CNN)


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two airliners had to circle for 18 minutes and a plane
ferrying human lungs for transplant was briefly delayed Friday while an
airport's lone air traffic controller took a bathroom break, the
controller's union said.

The union on Tuesday cited the Friday incident at the Manchester, New
Hampshire, airport as evidence that air traffic control facilities are
understaffed.

"There should never be one person in the tower, because it's not safe," said
Doug Church, spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.
"It's just added proof that the system is stretched to its limits, and these
are the type of things that are happening."

Federal Aviation Administration officials responded that staffing is
sufficient, that the bathroom break was handled in accordance with policy,
and that travelers were not endangered or unduly inconvenienced.

While drawing vastly different conclusions about the significance of the
event, the FAA and the union gave details that generally matched.

Both said the controller, whom neither named, had been on duty at
Manchester-Boston Regional Airport about two hours and 40 minutes Friday
when he had to take a bathroom break. 

Because the only other employee in the tower was not certified to handle
takeoffs and landings, the controller notified FAA's Boston consolidated
terminal radar approach control, or TRACON, that he was taking the
unscheduled break.

FAA spokesman Jim Peters said the controller, who had handled 60 aircraft
during the first three hours of his shift, acted responsibly by waiting
until a slow period before taking his bathroom break. Boston TRACON assumed
responsibility for the airspace and placed two aircraft in a holding pattern
until the controller returned.

Peters said the break lasted 12 minutes, but said a few additional minutes
may have lapsed as the planes were realigned to land.

"It's the FAA's position that the staffing that was present at Manchester
was sufficient to safely handle arrivals and departures at that time of the
evening," Peters said. "He was only gone for 12 minutes, so while there may
have been a slight delay in the aircraft landing, certainly the controller
did what he had to do."

Union spokesman Church said Southwest Flights 1187 and 2379 were delayed 18
minutes. He provided CNN with an FAA "traffic management log" indicating an
18-minute lapse during a "bathroom break."

Passengers on the aircraft were probably not informed of the reason for the
delay, Church said, adding, "They'd probably be angry."

During the controller's break, a Lifeguard flight pilot radioed the tower
and spoke to a trainee, who was not certified to conduct controller
operations. The trainee told the pilot he would have to wait 10 minutes for
the controller to return.

The pilot replied that he had "lungs on board," Church said.

Peters acknowledged that the Lifeguard flight was told it had to wait 10
minutes, but said there was no indication from the pilot that the delay
would cause problems.

The FAA and the controllers' union have skirmished repeatedly in recent
months about staffing levels at airports. 

The union says controllers are often forced to work overtime, contributing
to fatigue, which results in safety lapses. But the FAA says most overtime
is voluntary and said instances of involuntary overtime are rare.

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