What happened? Do you have a link?

here you go, Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: air traffic controller

Thanks, Kat. That was foolish of the man to do that.

The article I read said basically the kid was allowed to speak into the microphone, with the air traffic controller standing next to him, telling him what to say. Sounds like the biggest risk was that he'd get disciplined for it.

Yeah, I first thought the kid was directing air traffic!!! It's still wrong though.

I think it's outrageous to have the distraction of a child in a control tower.

It was definitely not smart of the person to bring his kid to work but it still cute to listen to. I'm thinking the supervisor giving him permission is really stupid. The supervisor should have just said you can't bring your kid wo work.

I'm sorry but in my opinion it was wrong, very wrong, and common sense should have told both the employee and his supervisor that. Should they lose their jobs? Probably. ATC is one of the most stressful jobs that exists, as such it requires complete concentration not one eye on the screen and one on the kid. Cute? on the surface it might be cute, but truly they put every life that was on those planes at risk.

News just said they were both suspended! Rightfully so.

A few years back, in Ontario there was a death on the bring your kids to work day. The child was operating heavy machinery. I'm glad no one was hurt in this incident - it could have caused multiple loss of life and was a real lapse in judgement. Surely, the teachers could provide a different work experience to those whose parents have jobs that are unsuitable for children to observe. I'm sure the parents have told the child about their work during family time anyway. Employers pay their employees to perform at 100% and they deserve that in return. Actually letting the child participate even if supervised was just plain wrong.

Nothing cute about it at all. Kids don't belong in control towers. If the child was visiting it should have been only to observe. When I was in grade school back in the early 60's we got to visit a control tower on a field trip. It was stressed to us even thing how important the job was and how we all had to be very careful not to distract the workers.

I'm glad the workers and the supervisor were suspended.

Not sure a fool lacking that much common sense should be doing the job at all. Hopefully they learned their lesson.

The supervisor should be demoted or fired.

Holly, that terrible accident happened ten minutes from my home. It was devastating when that happened. That plant closed recently. Staff let the teens drive John Deer equipment in the parking lot, and the vehicle crashed and went under a trailer. The two kids who died were both 14 years old.

And now they are reporting about the following day.... his 8 y/o daughter also in the control tower talking to the pilots. Very irresponsible even if the kids were just parroting the father.

Yes, Dad should have his full attention on his work, not manipulating his kids. How would you like to be in the plane he was directing?

personally I don't think this is such a big deal. The dad was sitting there telling the child what to say for only a few moments.
As a teen I flew small planes out of military bases (yes, I was the pilot) and an occasional blurp from a kid would have brought a smile to my face. This kid didn't bring any planes to disaster by repeating the instructions. Maybe it scared the public, that's what the news likes to do but it wouldn't have bothered me if it was an occasional occurance. Sure, I don't want a 15 year old driving my ambulance but they can check out the machine when no one is hurt.
If this was a daily thing, then sure, that's a problem.
I see 14 year olds driving cars to school every day, legally, now THAT scares me.

I am inclined to agree with Toni. I think they are making a mountain out of a molehill. While it was probably not the wisest decision, there was no risk to the planes or passengers. If disciplinary actions were needed, then I feel it should have been handled quietly, behind closed doors with a simple "do not do that again." Why was this even brought to the public's attention? Job suspensions for this offense are overkill and out of line IMHO.

I agree with toni and pauline. I don't think it's a good thing, but not as bad as it's being made out to be. How did this one get discovered, anyway? I'm sure this isn't an isolated incident. I suspect that "the powers that be" are responding to it with horror because they know the public will and they have to appear equally appalled and take the actions that the public will want them to (fire the controllers). But I'll bet they're all talking otherwise among themselves.

I agree that this is not an isolated event. The pilots did not seem surprised at being instructed by a child which tells me it was expected. I seriously doubt anyone was in danger because of that. Was it stupid? You betcha. But should you lose your job over it? Debatable.

They have to make the molehill a mountain - it's plastered all over the net. This has become political. They have to CYA.

I think he got what he deserved. What was that man thinking?

Personally I don't understand the whole "Bring Your Child to Work" thing. I had an experience with that years ago. Our Dean brought her 5 year old to work on that day and the kid managed to throw all the garbage out of my can and my recycled papers on the floor (while she stood there gabbing to another coworker). I bit my tongue long enough and finally said "is he practicing to become a garbage man when he grow up"? Needless to say I got a dirty look.

SamKaren
your resident DJ

I don't know what to think of this.. It may be nothing esp. if the pilots were alerted this was going to happen. There may be things we don't know about that were discussed before it happened. Definitely the kind of thing that will stir up trouble so maybe it was not a great idea.

I remember doing a drive along with a policeman. It was just a few wks into my first yr. on college for some class. I drove with this policeman for hours. He received a call about some suspicious behavior from some teens in a nearby fast food restaurant. The cop got out, told ME to get behind the wheel and drive the car around the place a few times until I saw him again! Now, even I knew that was just wrong! I did it, though. I later imagined things that could've gone horribly wrong. Adults don't always make the best decisions!

Did you know that one the the most dangerous periods during an airplane trip is during takeoff? What I don't understand is how not one other person in that control tower or the pilots themselves didn't have the common sense to say "not a good plan guys".

March 27, 1977 in the Canary Islands. Fatalities: 583

A KLM aircraft began its takeoff roll without permission, and struck a Pan AM jet still on the runway.
The collision took place, essentially, ON THE GROUND.

So if this kid had fumbled a word or number it was a recipe for disaster. Sure some of you think it's cute because nothing went wrong. But what if something had gone wrong? Something not even related to the kid and the planes he was in communication with? Others in the tower room were chuckling along with dumb daddy and the kid. A kid in the room is already a distraction. A kid on the radio is a huge distraction.

Glad to read the union isn't backing the behavior either. Maybe daddy should go to work in a daycare and he and the kiddies can play air traffic controller with a Fisher Price Playset.

I think everyone's making way too much of this incident. It seems clear the father was in charge, the daughter just spoke on the microphone what he'd told her to say. It's in the past, there was no plane crash, it's Much Ado About Nothing. I think the father should be disciplined, perhaps a two week suspension without pay. I cetainly don't think all the Air Traffic Controllers should be fired.