Thanks for the kind remarks …. & for my paragraphs! … Don’t think it’s your software but foregoing double spacing on my part – either way, I appreciate the effort.

On “installing gallows” – laugh out loud stuff until it occurred to me some official somewhere just might be hard at work building up same said contraptions as we speak … “coming soon to a local airport near you” … shivers

LRod – I’m honored, truly. Thank you. I must admit my imagination had a field day with the notion of “plugging in”, lol. Shrewd thinking on your part to also include the saying’s proper translation! “Thanks I needed that”

As to working at O’Hare, would that not be Dante’s hell on earth? On behalf of passengers everywhere, thanks for braving it out -

That anyone has considered punishing the Pilots in this case re-ignites the rage I spent all weekend tamping down. Arrrg!

I bet it’s been a little 5 foot-nothin’ dateless wonder responsible for this power play ….. someone who thought he had a sliver of opportunity to get “even” with the real men who’d forever highlighted his “shortcomings” to the world just by being themselves.

Dude wants to fire a cannon to kill a gnat- overkill & waste of a perfectly good ball on a target so small as to be nearly invisible. If successful, Dude will also be piling ‘stupid’ on top of his heap of no-win attributes dateless & vertically missing. Ha! Unintended consequences are such nasty little things …

Thanks for letting an outsider crash your forum

Carolina

(Rob/Scott – could ya edit these to reduce the comment count for me please. Ta!)

Inspiring youth. That’s a really interesting point. I like it. Of course the people that are calling for this guy’s head – especially when they learned he let his daughter talk on the radio too – might not agree with us.

Couldn’t agree more. A ‘slapped wrist’ and the less said the better.

We used to have flight deck visitors years ago and occasionally offered them an opportunity to move the heading selector and watch the aircraft react. The look on their faces was a picture – it gave a measure of sense to the complexity which may have helped the nervous. Another example of gross negligence no doubt and an indication of our total unsuitability to do the job. Let’s all pray for an enlightened public and their contiued trust that the snakes on the plane are rubber and a crew wearing a red plastic nose doesn’t mean that they are in the hands of loonies. It’s just Comic Relief week.

Throughout my life, I look back to realize that it is the individual events that touch our lives and guide us along our future paths. Surely we all have those polarizing events we can look back on that inspired us to this field.

This controller, through a single memorable instant, may have just inspired his son to be a future ATC or pilot. In an era when talent is slowly draining from the system, and science and mathematics curricula take a back seat to Sponge Bob, any positive influence should be an lauded effort.

Understandably, as both a regulatory body and a service organization, the Federal Aviation Administration, is left with a quandary of adequately handling this situation balancing the safety, security, and operational elements with employee morale and human capital aspects.

Perhaps this episode can be chalked up with a “stern talking-to” and a few “lessons learned” and serve as a wake up call to find more structured ways of encouraging fresh talent, instead of relying on the creative ideas of individuals, however good-natured.

Laurence Audenaerd, PhD Candidate
Dept. of Civil and Env. Engineering
Northwestern University
Center for Advanced Aviation System Development
The MITRE Corporation

So what is the world giving us now, a bunch of mouthy ‘instant experts’ wailing the minute they think that someone has steered off a line they draw with their ignorance in the full arrogant expectation that the planet will align to it.

All we need for a small but very personal disaster for this controller and his family is for a manager to lack the courage to stand up and say, “This happened on my watch, he has been judged by his peers to be a worthy professional – he stays exactly where he belongs, on my watch.” Can we have some of that please?

Sadly the crack of umbrellas is often the first thing you hear after an incident like this – fingers crossed.

One comment I’ve heard about the pilots comments is thet they too should be reprimanded for going along with the prank.

Perhaps a gallows installed just about anywhere anyone might say or do something stupid would be a better idea. Then we could sumarily off these goofs right on the spot and save everyone a great deal of work agonizing over it all.

Thanks for your note. And BTW, I fixed your formatting since I know you spent so much time at it. Sorry my software ate some of your work.

By the way, that’s what it’s called–”plugging in” It’s not some kind of potty mouth euphemism.

LRod
ZJX, ORD, ZAU retired
(for non-aviation types, that’s Jacksonville ARTCC, O’Hare TRACON, Chicago ARTCC)

I had lovely paragraph breaks all throughout my post that tragically disappeared once I hit the submit button.

As someone who conned her way through college writing papers & filling up entire essay test booklets by the 1000s, I am simply horrified with what I see before me ….. “What this?! No Paragraphs?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO PARAGRAPHS??!! ”

Thanks …..

In fact, I spent my morning looking for “support” type websites for Mr. Duffy before the current administration burns him to the ground ….. so to speak.

I have listened to the tape several times. My smile gets bigger with each listening as I become familiar with the lingo. The kid(s) I never struggled with understanding. They were great! “Adios Amigos”!

I am proud of them. I believe their parents are doing a fantastic job of raising America’s “Future Greats” …. & God knows, America cannot afford to lose a pair of “young greats” to the wheels of the Mainstream Media bus.

The tape is considered “old” in this age of immediate information. Had the event been in any way dangerous, the world would have known about it’s existence immediately.

Instead, I believe the hoopla “break” of this story serves the 1 specific purpose of distracting we useful idiots’ attention away from other, very real critical matters.

Purposely wrecking a family for the distraction value?? Such is the level journalism has sunken I’m afraid.

Another observation. I don’t like to fly. (Quite a statement considering my audience I know.) Even so, I have been a frequent flier aboard a wide range of planes since I was the Duffy Twins’ age. As I’m ’40-cough-AHEM-something’ now that’s a considerable length of time in the air. The reason I continue to walk the plank into the belly of the beast over and over is my absolute trust in pilots.

Though aware of the awesome responsibility, these people step off Mother Earth into the Wild Blue Yonder anyway, holding 100s of other souls safely tucked in their coat pockets. They do this thing on purpose. They ask permission even …

With that in mind, I firmly believe it is the Pilot’s assessment of an event that matters & none that I heard conversing with the children at Kennedy assessed danger dead-ahead. I did however hear “Awesome Job!” being offered up as praise for job well done and that’s good enough for me.

Was a rule broken? apparently …… but please allow me to say that, during those instances where my control-freak posterior is locked in a tin can that’s gone airborne, I prefer the more flexible school of “adapt and overcome” management against blind rule following – it has a better chance of producing the best possible outcome for all concerned.

And let’s face it …. it takes a village to successful fly 1 person & their clothes from destination to arrival. I want the likes of Mr. Duffy in town when I come to visit or I might just revert to driving my clothes to their final destination myself.

Thank you for the soapbox. This morning I read those two young children are now blaming themselves for getting their Daddy in trouble. What they should be are two happy kids a little more confident in their abilities for having spent a moment taking in a whole new world under the watchful eye of their father.

I am disgusted the FAA willing joined this media manufactured witch hunt. Their acts have insured the children will be the major casualties. Personally, I can think of many other targets more worthy of their attention.

Sincerely,

Carolina Collins

PS If anyone believes pasting a copy of my letter to other boards could possibly be of benefit, even if only to show support, I would greatly appreciate the effort undertaken.

Thanks greatly,
CBC

“I remember doing that”