By Elaine Quayle
If you are planning on flying to your vacation site, you may not want to read about the behavior of some pilots and controllers during work hours.
You’ve seen the video of air traffic controllers glued to their screens in total concentration. Unfortunately, they may be watching movies, playing video games, or gambling online on their laptops while on duty says several whistleblowers, reports Bloomberg.com. The activities were most prevalent on low-volume overnight hours. The article says that the whistleblower’s accusations were corroborated by both the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Office of Special Counsel—the agency formed to assist federal whistleblowers.
Why weren’t these safety-threatening activities reported? The article reports that some managers were unwilling or intimidated to report activities of union members because of reports that those who did had their cars vandalized or received threats. One whistleblower did tell his story to the New York Post. However, Paul Rinaldi, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, called the incidents “rare examples that deviate from the high standards we set for ourselves, and [we] are determined to work with the FAA to correct any such issues.”
And if some air traffic controllers aren’t paying attention, some pilots may be sleeping! A press release on the National Sleep Foundation’s 2012 Sleep in America® poll reports that almost one-quarter (23 percent) of pilots say that sleepiness has affected their job performance at least once a week! According to the release, one in five pilots report they have made a serious safety error because of sleepiness. Pilots are even more likely (6 percent) than nontransportation workers (1 percent) to have a car accident while commuting to the job because they are tired.
The reason for the sleepiness? The poll reports that 50 percent of pilots report that they “rarely get a good night’s sleep on work nights.” “We found that although pilots are especially focused on obtaining adequate sleep, one in 10 can still be classified as ‘sleepy.’ This is not acceptable. Who among us wants to take a one in 10 chance of flying on a plane with a sleepy pilot?” says Capt. Edward Edens, PhD, of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, a member of the poll’s task force.