Child Directed Air Traffic

Officials are investigating an incident where an air traffic controller brought his child to work and let him talk to pilots:

The probe comes after an audiotape caught the boy directing several pilots preparing for take-off last month.

In one exchange, the boy is heard saying: "JetBlue 171 contact departure." The pilot responds: "Over to departure JetBlue 171, awesome job."

The boy was apparently with his father - a certified air traffic controller. The adult is later heard saying with a laugh: "That's what you get, guys, when the kids are out of school."

In another exchange, the child says: "MS 4-0-3, contact departure," and then adds: "Adios, amigo." The pilot responds: "Adios, amigo." The pilots on the tape appear to be not concerned that a child is giving them instructions. (Source)

The pilots may not be concerned, but the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association are:

"It is not indicative of the highest professional standards that controllers set for themselves and exceed each and every day in the advancement of aviation safety," association spokesman Doug Church said in the statement.

The air traffic controller was put on administrative leave by the FAA while it conducts the investigation. David Pascoe, the owner of liveatc.net which posts recording of air traffic control communications, said that the whole thing was blown out of proportion:

"Nobody in the aviation community felt like this was anything more than a noble thing, that a father would take his kid to work.

"And when you listen to any of the recordings, the situation in the tower is very controlled. There is no hint ... that anyone was too busy or anyone was interrupting the planes. The kid cleared two airplanes. It was very controlled and I don't think safety was compromised, nor should anyone be disciplined for this," said Pascoe, who is also a pilot.

The recording was from a network of receivers, he said, but couldn't reveal the source. The site, he said, exists for pilot education and sometimes other curious parties listen in. There was "absolutely no security threat" posed by the incident, he said.

What do you think? Unsafe or just over-reaction by the media?


I don't think this bothers me.

Even if I found out a plane I was on received direction from a kid. I would assume the obvious: it was closely supervised, and the pilots receiving the instructions were aware and weighed the instruction accordingly.

Sure they probably shouldn't have done it, but not worth more than a "don't do it again, k?".
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IAAP, and I wouldn't have minded. As long as traffic wasn't heavy and the kid was told exactly what to say, I don't see why it would have been such a big deal. I think it's great to bring your kids to work like that and show them what you do everyday.
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I caught the very tail end of this on the radio and assumed something horrible had happened, and I come on here and see it was just some kid talking to pilots? Jeez. The child said what the father would've said anyway, the pilots seemed to be aware of what was going on and acted accordingly, I fail to see how this is unprofessional....

It's not like the FAA doesn't have more important things worry about or anything.
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I take this incident as more than just a dad bringing his kid to work. Who else is allowed in the tower, which is supposed to be a secure area? Obviously their security procedures are more than a bit lax.

As for cuplability, the controller's boss is the dumb one for letting the guy bring the kid into the tower to begin with, let alone let him direct aircraft.
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I'm a helicopter pilot, and it doesn't bother me. As long as the dad told the kid what to say and when to say it, it's not a big deal. Woulda been kinda nifty to have a kid talk to me on the radio....
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Doesn't bother me one bit. The father was right there probably telling the kid what to say. It would've been different if this kid was there talking random nonsense with no adult supervision, but that wasn't the case.
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When I was a little kid (around '80), I once got to fly in the cockpit with my dad, then an airline pilot. He had me speak over the radio to Chicago as we approached. He told me exactly what to say, it was just something like the flight # and whatnot. He did it as a joke for the traffic controllers, for them to hear a little boy's voice on the other end.
It was a good joke and a thrill for me, and no harm done. Of course that was a different time for airlines (flying in the cockpit?!).
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No worries....i'm sure the kid hasn't taken up chain smoking, is not addicted the xanax, and doesn't get about 2-3 hours of sleep everyday now....HA! Come on people...I'm sure the kid isn't on any terrorist lists (yet), and was having a GREAT day with his dad. At least one parent out there is concerned and involved with their child's future....by the way, sir ...your son is wearing high-heels to t-ball practice, put down the cellphone and parent damn you!!!
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@Gordon Daily

I doubt that there is anything classified going on in the civilian ATC towers. Are random people allowed up there? I would sure hope not. But it does not seem likely that this guy's kid was a trained terrorist or anything.

Was it the most common sense thing to do? Probably not, but I bet it was a real treat for the kid, and that is pretty priceless in my book.
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The kid sure brightened those pilots' day, you can hear it in their voices.
Clearing a plane for take-off is the best time to let a kid talk on the radio, because the plane is sitting still on the runway, with nothing threatening nearby.
No chance of a crash or mid-air collision.
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overreaction...the samples of what he said were innocuous "proceed to this or that" messages that were nothing life or death...but i bet dad does time for it before its over
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I think the reaction of the administration is disproportioned and I feel sad at the idea of the consequences, the guy is at risk of losing his job for this, and the poor boy, how is he going to cope with the guilty feeling he certainly has now.

And as usual the media coverage (including outside the US) was airing the news as if this event was a major safety concern, while indeed the take-off messages are not a very potentiallly dangerous situation, if you hear the radio communications, you can hear the pilots were really cheerful.
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Since we are human beings these things have always happened, and will continue to happen... we are just made more aware of them by an ever present Big Brother surveillance system. Sometimes I think there are some things we should not be made aware of... for our own mental health.
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Not even close to being an issue. Air Traffic Controllers are a responsible lot, and I would not expect any degree of consequence. The alarmist media and the culture of Zero Tolerance is at fault for not placing this in proper context. At least the kid didn't do something truly heinous like bring a butter knife to school.
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Oh bother. I flew with my dad when I was 8. he let take the controls a lot..even did some landing and take offs at 10 years old. It's all bout supervision.
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Like mentioned a few times, it was supervised. The kid learned how things worked, followed instructions, and no problems occurred. This is a non-issue, and probably a slow news day for the media.
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