Traffic Controller facts

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Ronald Reagan fired 11,345 air traffic controllers in August of 1981 for failing to carry out their oath to never strike as employees of the US federal government.

how to become an air traffic controller?

A pilot bet his co-pilot he could land their passenger jet blind, going against air traffic controls suggestion for a visual approach, the plan crashed resulting in 70 deaths and only 24 survivors.

What do air traffic controllers do?

In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering what is an air traffic controller. Here are 50 of the best facts about Traffic Controller Jobs and Traffic Controller Jobs Sydney I managed to collect.

what does an air traffic controller do?

In 1978 a lone pilot flying in Australia reported to air traffic control that he was being accompanied by an aircraft above him. Asked to identify the aircraft, he radioed "It isn't an aircraft". His plane disappeared and has never been found.
At least six air traffic controllers who dealt with two of the hijacked airliners on Sept. 11, made a tape recording that same day describing the events, but the tape was destroyed by a supervisor without anyone making a transcript or even listening to it.
In August 1981, 11,000 out of the nation's 16,000 air traffic controllers were fired by President Reagan after going on strike. Their union, PATCO, was dissolved and three of its leaders were sent to prison.
When the family of a Russian man named Vitaly Kaloyev died in a 2002 plane crash over Germany, he tracked down the air traffic controller he felt was responsible and murdered him. For this, he spent 3 years in prison, then returned home and was appointed as a deputy to a government ministry.
A Northwest flight once flew unresponsive for 100 miles past its destination because the pilots were busy with their laptops and didn't hear air traffic controller's radio calls.
Vitaly Kaloyev, a Russian man who lost his family in a 2002 airliner collision. 2 years later Vitaly tracked down the air traffic controller responsible for the crash, murdered him in front of his family, served 3 years in prison, and then returned home to a hero's welcome.
A Water Salute is a ceremony in which an aircraft passes under one or more arches formed by the water jets from airport fire fighting vehicles. They are used to mark notable events such as the retirement of senior pilots or air traffic controllers.
The actor in the 1980 movie Airplane! that played the outlandish, flamboyant air traffic controller...was actually one of the first actors to publicly suffer from HIV and die as a result of AIDS in 1986 at age 38.
Tape of Air Traffic Controllers Made on 9/11 Was Destroyed.
On August 5, 1981, following the PATCO workers' refusal to return to work, Ronald Reagan fired 11,345 striking air traffic controllers who had ignored the order

traffic controller facts — What do air traffic controllers make?

Why did the air traffic controllers strike in 1981?

You can easily fact check why do you want to be an air traffic controller by examining the linked well-known sources.

In 1998 a Pakistani airliner was hijacked to India. Air traffic control pretended to be Indian and the plane landed at a Pakistani airport where airport officials, and paramilitary troops dressed as Indian nationals. The hijackers were arrested with no casualties.

President Reagan fired all the air traffic controllers because they went on strike. He also lifetime banned them from the FAA. - source

Peter Nielsen, an air traffic controller involved in an airplane collision resulting in 71 fatalities, was tracked down and murdered two years after the events, by a man whose wife and daughters died in the crash. - source

Air traffic controllers employed by the FAA must train by age 30 and retire by age 56.

When was the air traffic controller strike?

In WWII, the Royal Air Force couldn't determine who were friends and foes on radar. They developed the transponder, and told pilots to 'squawk their parrot' (turn it on) in order to identify them on radar. The term "squawk" is still used in air traffic control communications to this day.

How much do air traffic controllers make?

Peter Nielson, a Swiss air traffic controller wrongly accused of causing the mid-air collision of a passenger airliner filled with school children and a DHL jet. Though cleared of wrongdoing, Nielson was stabbed and killed two years later by a grieving father - who saw no jail time.

In 1922 Garret filed for a patent for a traffic control device with a warning position. He sold his rights to the patent to General Electric for $40,000.

There was a mid-air collision between two planes over California in 1986. One of the planes was guided by an air traffic controller named Walter White. A similar collision happened in the Breaking Bad episode 'ABQ', for which the main character, Walter White was indirectly responsible.

Air traffic controllers and crews rely on forecasts to help keep their passengers safe.

Two planes crashed mid-air due to mixed messages from an air traffic controller. Two years later, the controller was stabbed to death by a man who's wife and child died in the crash.

When do you need a traffic controller?

Turkmenistan's President wanted to build a distinctive airport in the capital. The control tower ended up being constructed on the wrong side of the runway with the terminal blocking the view of air traffic. When warned by the builders about this, he responded, "it looks better this way".

The air traffic controller that gave the wrong instructions (despite on-board controls signaling otherwise) causing the Überlingen mid-air collision was later stabbed and killed by one of the victims relatives.

An air traffic controller had a stroke(?) while on the job and cleared a plane to cross a runway already cleared for takeoff for another plane. The pilots realized something was up and all stopped and got someone up there to take her to a hospital and another Controller took over.

English is the official language for civil aviation, meaning all air to air and air to ground communications are supposed to be in english, regarless of pilot or air traffic controller's country/language of origin (for international flights)

Ronald Regan fired 11,345 striking air traffic controllers over a labor dispute and banned them from federal service for life.

How much does an air traffic controller make?

Walter White was the name of an Air Traffic Controller guiding a plane that was involved in a mid-air collision in 1986

British Airways' only fatal accident was a mid-air collision caused by air traffic control error. The controller saw the problem and alerted one plane to stop climbing but this attempt to avert catastrophe turned what would have been a near miss into the collision he was trying to prevent

The world's first manually operated gas-lit traffic signal was installed in London in 1868 and exploded less than a month later. Later, Earnest Sirrine from Chicago patented the first automated traffic control system in 1910. It used the words "STOP" and "PROCEED", although neither word lit up.

With the emergence of computer-controlled traffic signals. NYC has less than 100 crossing signals that work. With it being too expensive to dismantle them, they're merely left as a mechanical placebo effect in cities.

After losing his wife and two children due to a mid-air collision, Vitaly Kaloyev murdered the Air Traffic Controller responsible in front of his kids and wife, spent 3 years in prison and returned back to Russia as a hero

On December 30 1978, an Australian television crew recorded a supposed UFO sighting over New Zealand, known as the "Kaikoura Lights"; for the first time ever, UFOs were filmed, tracked by air traffic control, and observed by witnesses on the ground simultaneously.

In 2014 a Chicago Air Traffic Control contractor purposefully slashed the power and communication lines to the air traffic control system. The airspace went to 'ATC Zero', meaning there was no control over the planes nearby.

Aeronautical phraseology - a very specific set of terms, phrases, and rituals used by pilots and air traffic controllers to speak to one another

Smart traffic lights of the future will communicate and control self drive cars to optimize flow and reduce congestion

Initial efforts to control London’s traffic by introducing a gas-powered traffic light were quickly abandoned after it violently exploded, injuring the policeman who operated it and discouraged further traffic efforts until the era of the internal combustion engine.

Vitaly Kaloyev, a Russian man who lost his family in a 2002 airliner collision. 2 years later Vitaly tracked down the air traffic controller, murdered him in front of his family, successfully fooled judges that he did not intend to murder him and got his sentence cut

There is a set of light signals for use in air traffic control in case of radio failure, aircraft not equipped with radio — or a deaf pilot.

Even though Google is an American company, it controls over 90% of European search traffic.

The air crash in Breaking Bad, and Walter Whites character name was inspired by an accident in 1986 involving Aeromexico flight 498. Walter White was the air traffic controllers name

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