Traffic Controllers facts
While investigating facts about Traffic Controllers Course and Traffic Controllers Handbook, I found out little known, but curios details like:
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 much do air traffic controllers make?
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 make?
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 language do air traffic controllers speak. Here are 50 of the best facts about Traffic Controllers Salary and Traffic Controllers Jobs I managed to collect.
what do air traffic controllers do?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Tape of Air Traffic Controllers Made on 9/11 Was Destroyed.
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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
Why do air traffic controllers make so much?
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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 do air traffic controllers retire?
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 earn?
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.