Kids In The Tower
Bring your kid to work day.
After the recent thing at JFK where a controller allowed his child to use the radio to clear aircraft for takeoff, Ive had people tell me it was ok because everything was under control, and others say it was a silly thing to do. Heres my two cents worth.
First of all it was against the rules, so as far as the authorities are concerned thats that. The other question was whether it was safe to do this, and I heard controllers and pilots say, yeah, it was, because the child was under close supervision all the time. I disagree for a number of reasons. One reason is an Aeroflot Airbus flight where a child was placed in the pilots seat 'under close supervision' and the plane went in despite the best efforts of the well trained crew.
Pilots are under enormous stress when they operate airliners... not so much in cruise flight where they drink coffee and talk crap and compare motorbikes, but more so at the critical phases of flight. The absolute peak periods are takeoff and landing, and the start of the takeoff roll is a bit like the first incision in an operating room. The last thing you need is the introduction of an unknown element that creates uncertainty and being cleared for takeoff by a kid is a whopper. Some pilots will accept it and fly off laughing, some will grumble, and some will stop the takeoff and demand clarification. That means the planes behind me waiting for takeoff or the one coming in for a landing now have to wait while the runway is cleared, and one thing that sends the odds of an accident or incident through the roof is an unexpected go around by a landing aircraft. Anyone who doubts that airport communication is critical should note that the worlds worst aviation accident at Tenerife was caused by a communication issue.
Theres also the training issue. Pilots are constantly under training and under review, sometimes by a captain seated beside them and sometimes by an examiner on the jumpseat. This happens every six months for each pilot and this is about as stressful as it gets short of a actual emergency, so now the pilot being examined has to think... does he accept the clearance from the kid and fail his line check (because the clearance wasnt legal) or refuse to accept the clearance and block a runway causing a plane behind him to go around?
This is just the basic stuff. I havent even touched the issues of distraction in the tower, runway incursions during periods of confusion, radio security etc etc. From my point of view this wasnt safe at all.
K
