Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has ordered a second air traffic controller to be on duty overnight at Reagan National Airport, after the lone controller was unavailable early Wednesday as two passenger planes were trying to land.
LaHood also instructed the Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating the incident, to examine staffing levels at other airports around the country.
The two D.C. airliners, carrying a total of 165 passengers and crew members, landed on their own shortly after midnight after attempting to contact the control tower and receiving no response.
The current system is a relic. It has been in place since the nation's air traffic control system was created in the 1950s. Over those years, air traffic has increased several fold. To further postpone moving from the analog system now in place to a vastly more efficient digital one is unacceptable. It's unfathomable.
The process of updating air traffic control was begun several years ago and will take many additional years to complete. The new system, called the next Generation Air Transportation System, or NextGen, would shift control of the nation's air traffic from a ground-based system to a satellite-based system. The Federal Aviation Administration, the agency overseeing its implementation, estimates its cost at $15 billion to $22 billion for taxpayers and about $14 billion for the aviation industry. Delays would only up that ante, informed observers say.
Funding NextGen is one matter that must not be made subject to the changing winds of budget prioritizing and cutting, as urgent as that effort is. As Chronicle reporter Jenalia Moreno related in a Sunday Business story ("New air traffic system could save time, fuel; But debate about federal budget might keep NextGen grounded," March 20, Page D1), the investments being required of the nation's airlines to plug into the new system are expensive. The carriers deserve certainty about a completion date for the new system.
Quote by Raine:
Also, one more thing: Am I the only one who sees the irony that this happened at what is officially called Ronald Reagan National Airport?
(we refer to it as National Airport in this house. )
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
Also, one more thing: Am I the only one who sees the irony that this happened at what is officially called Ronald Reagan National Airport?
(we refer to it as National Airport in this house. )
National it was named National it will always be
Soros Fingerprints on Libya Bombing
Also, the Soros-funded global group that promotes Responsibility to Protect is closely tied to Samantha Power, the National Security Council special adviser to Obama on human rights.
Power has been a champion of the doctrine and is, herself, deeply tied to the doctrine's founder.
According to reports, Power was instrumental in convincing Obama to act against Libya.
Quote by Raine:Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
Also, one more thing: Am I the only one who sees the irony that this happened at what is officially called Ronald Reagan National Airport?
(we refer to it as National Airport in this house. )
National it was named National it will always be(said the newcomer to the area.)
Quote by TriSec:
Interesting that they chose to land without contacting ground control.
In the big picture, the local tower has control over all the ground activities; they're the ones that give final permission for takeoffs and landings, and control all movements on the ground at the airport.
Once airborne and on an established "jetway", control switches to the regional control center. The inbound jets should probably have diverted and tried to contact 'Center' or 'The Company' (their own personnel on the ground) for further instruction.
That said, it's not overly dangerous to land on an uncontrolled airport; most of the civilian fields around are uncontrolled. (College Park, for a local DC reference). It would depend on the traffic, visibility, and pilot judgement for that.
It will be interesting to see what Patrick Smith has to say about this.
(And no jealousy from the New England branch...I grew up in Saugus, which is bisected by two different approaches to Logan, and I currently work just a mile off the threshold, centerline extended, to KBED RW 23.)
And, good morning.
(sorry, sorry...a story like this is meat & drink for me.)
Quote by TriSec:
Interesting that they chose to land without contacting ground control.
In the big picture, the local tower has control over all the ground activities; they're the ones that give final permission for takeoffs and landings, and control all movements on the ground at the airport.
Once airborne and on an established "jetway", control switches to the regional control center. The inbound jets should probably have diverted and tried to contact 'Center' or 'The Company' (their own personnel on the ground) for further instruction.
That said, it's not overly dangerous to land on an uncontrolled airport; most of the civilian fields around are uncontrolled. (College Park, for a local DC reference). It would depend on the traffic, visibility, and pilot judgement for that.
It will be interesting to see what Patrick Smith has to say about this.
(And no jealousy from the New England branch...I grew up in Saugus, which is bisected by two different approaches to Logan, and I currently work just a mile off the threshold, centerline extended, to KBED RW 23.)
And, good morning.
(sorry, sorry...a story like this is meat & drink for me.)
The planes’ pilots took matters into their own hands, broadcasting their progress as they approached and landed. They also were communicating with controllers at a separate facility in the region that does not handle landing
Quote by wickedpam:
*sigh* the birth cert I have from DC does not have a sig - does that mean I'm not a citizen?
Quote by Raine:Quote by wickedpam:
*sigh* the birth cert I have from DC does not have a sig - does that mean I'm not a citizen?
If your not neither am I.
That reminds me, I need to make some calls about my passport.
Quote by wickedpam:
Does that mean we can pick our country then? Cause I'm thinking Canada or some place with univeral healthcare and with a solid economy so I have a job and can afford a home
Quote by Raine:
Teabagger.
Jingoistic Bullshite.
Quote by wickedpam:
oh lord, how does Hal provoke the crazies into calling?
Quote by Raine:You make an interesting point.Quote by wickedpam:
Does that mean we can pick our country then? Cause I'm thinking Canada or some place with univeral healthcare and with a solid economy so I have a job and can afford a home
These guys either want him to be from Kenya (NOT PROVABLE) or they want him to be a man without a country. ---
Were slaves considered citizens???
Quote by Raine:HE welcomes them.Quote by wickedpam:
oh lord, how does Hal provoke the crazies into calling?
Quote by TriSec:
There's more to that Maine story; the gov also wants to rename conference rooms in the Labor Dept after "mountains, or streams, or something". One of the rooms is named for Cesar Chavez, and another is named for a gentleman whose name eludes me that worked to improve the workers' situation after Triangle Shirtwaist; his parents were from Maine.
Pure pettiness, IMHO.
Quote by Raine:Today is the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire anniversary.Quote by TriSec:
There's more to that Maine story; the gov also wants to rename conference rooms in the Labor Dept after "mountains, or streams, or something". One of the rooms is named for Cesar Chavez, and another is named for a gentleman whose name eludes me that worked to improve the workers' situation after Triangle Shirtwaist; his parents were from Maine.
Pure pettiness, IMHO.
Quote by Scoopster:
NPR did a pretty good story on Triangle this morning, and even tied it into the current day labor struggles across the country.
Quote by Raine:
HEY Gang!
Guess what?
I get to prove to the State Department that I am a citizen!
Seems my Virginia issued State ID and my birth certificate aren't enough to get a passport.
I'm frustrated. I mean seriously, WTH.
I know you went thru this crap Mala. But they literally told me my ID was the red flag. grrr.
Quote by Raine:I'm assuming I can listen to it online, I'd like to.Quote by Scoopster:
NPR did a pretty good story on Triangle this morning, and even tied it into the current day labor struggles across the country.
Quote by Scoopster:
Hmmm.. new comments aren't displaying when I post or hit the refresh link anymore.![]()
Quote by Raine:Quote by Scoopster:
Hmmm.. new comments aren't displaying when I post or hit the refresh link anymore.![]()
WHAT? I will alert Bobber. It's working on this safari browser.
Quote by wickedpam:
Geez! why was the ID flagged that seems odd
Mine is messed up because my name on my BC is spelled wrong - I still have to go through the process to have that corrected
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:You make an interesting point.Quote by wickedpam:
Does that mean we can pick our country then? Cause I'm thinking Canada or some place with univeral healthcare and with a solid economy so I have a job and can afford a home
These guys either want him to be from Kenya (NOT PROVABLE) or they want him to be a man without a country. ---
Were slaves considered citizens???
no, I don't think there were - they were property
Quote by Raine:Quote by wickedpam:
Geez! why was the ID flagged that seems odd
Mine is messed up because my name on my BC is spelled wrong - I still have to go through the process to have that corrected
She said some states have a flag trigger with State ID's. I'm thinking Virginia is one of them.
You know, cause my last name sounds SO much like an immigrant.![]()
Quote by wickedpam:
hey, anyone know what company or groups donate compost? One of the 1 By Youth projects is a community garden and we're looking for compost donation but I have no clue where to look for this
Quote by TriSec:Quote by wickedpam:
hey, anyone know what company or groups donate compost? One of the 1 By Youth projects is a community garden and we're looking for compost donation but I have no clue where to look for this
Given the prodigious amount produced by the Republicans, try giving GOP headquarters a call.
*ducks incoming brick*
Quote by wickedpam:
Don't know much about Bio-Shock and I don't play shooter games so I'm unsure of what point of view this story of the game takes - what's the normal Bio-Shock story?
Quote by Scoopster:Quote by wickedpam:
Don't know much about Bio-Shock and I don't play shooter games so I'm unsure of what point of view this story of the game takes - what's the normal Bio-Shock story?
Since I haven't personally played either of the Bioshock games yet, we'll have to defer to Mr. Wiki for some info.. but basically at the start of the game you're an unwitting explorer of an underwater Randian utopia (i.e. "Galt's Gulch" on the ocean floor) where the dude in charge thinks you're invading and uses robots and genetically-altered guards to kill you.
It gets more complex than that I think.. I think I'm gonna have to download this one offa Steam!
Quote by livingonli:
I've heard that some people want to rename the Queensboro Bridge after Ed Koch but I don't know how much public support there is for it.