New rules a wake-up call for air traffic controllers

 When the first report of a sleeping traffic controller came in from Washington, DC, it was almost comical. It stopped being funny, however, after there were five other incidents. And now some critics are wondering if this is only the tip of the iceberg covering up far more serious problems.
 

Even critics of the Federal Aviation Administration admit it has responded quickly to recent events: first, officials obviously sought and accepted the resignation of the head of the Air Traffic Organization. Then, new rules were instigated to ensure controllers, at a minimum, stayed awake on the job.
 

“We are conducting a top to bottom review of the way we operate our air traffic control system,” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. ”This conduct must stop immediately.”
 

But the incidents that seemed to be isolated events have been increasingly focused in recent days on a problem that has not gotten a lot of public attention: the grinding day-to-day schedule of the men and women who shepherd 47,000 flights through the nation’s skies each day.
 

These troubles come at a time air travel seems safer than it has ever been. There hasn’t been a major domestic airline crash in almost a decade, and there have been just two fatal commuter-plane crashes in the past five years, according to the FAA.
 

“That impressive record has been amassed at the same time that the 15,475 air traffic controllers, whose primary safety mission is to keep planes from colliding, saw their count of recorded errors increase by 51 percent last year. Most of those errors posed little risk, but in at least a dozen cases, passenger planes narrowly missed colliding in midair,” said the Washington Post.
 

The episodes have sent administration officials scrambling to assure the public. Angry members of Congress have also been making remarks that air travel is indeed safe.
 

President Barack Obama also weighed in, telling ABC News in an interview, "We’ve got it under control.” He warned controllers they must stay alert and do their jobs.
 

"The fact is when you’re responsible for the lives and safety of people up in the air, you better do your job," he said in an interview with television’s "Good Morning America."
 

Reports have publicized the fact that air traffic controllers can routinely work a schedule that begins with two evening shifts, followed by an eight-hour turnaround to a day shift, and then another quick turnaround to a pair of midnight shifts.
 

Is fatigue an issue in the incidents? The FAA acknowledges it.
 

"It has been known for decades that fatigue is rampant among controllers. FAA rules forbid any sleeping on the job, even during breaks. Employees who violate those rules can be fired. But present and former controllers told The Associated Press that unsanctioned napping at night is an open secret within the agency,” reported the AP.
 

Regional radar centers are usually large rooms, but each controller has a cubicle. Because of the layout, a controller can accidently doze off without being noticed, the AP said.
 

But perhaps napping is a solution.
 

“There should be sanctioned on-shift napping. That’s the way to handle night shift work," said Gregory Belenky, a sleep expert at Washington State University.
 

There are many other scientists around the world who agree with him. Sleep studies show that nighttime workers who are allowed "recuperative breaks" are more alert when they return to their tasks.
 

A working group on controller fatigue made up of officials from the FAA and the union that represents air traffic controllers recently recommended napping as a solution.
 

New FAA rules call for air traffic controllers to take at least nine hours off between shifts, one more hour than the current rule. Other new rulings say controllers can no longer take longer shifts that would put them on unscheduled midnight duty or otherwise deprive them of enough rest, said a statement by the FAA.
 

The agency also ended the practice of staffing overnight shifts with one controller, which had occurred at more than two dozen airports. Most of these were small centers with light traffic after midnight.
 

The agency also will commission an independent review of its training curriculum and qualifications "to make sure our new controllers have mastered the right skills and learned the right disciplines before they start their careers," Babbitt said. That was a reference in part to the many new controllers now taking on the job.
 

Will “napping” be among new recommendations? Some other countries such as Germany do allow it.
 

That would be a radical change for the Federal Aviation Administration.
 

"We will do everything we can to put an end to this," Babbitt said in a statement.
 

By David Wilkening