JFK air traffic control tower allowed kids to direct air traffic

[unit]

Originally Posted by GabAlmighty

ATC communications are just words, no use comparing it to a neuro sergeon where the utmost precision and skill is required with ones hands. If you can speak and think properly for the job you're good.

The reason he got suspended was for the principle of the matter and the legality issues he caused.

As for the kid being able to create havoc, it was pretty obvious the dad was right there and would have corrected him right away. ATC guys screw up transmissions too ya know.

On a personal level does the dad deserve to be suspended? No. Moreover, it is simply due to the fact that what he did was illegal and the principal of the matter is that what he did was wrong.

If I was calling ground or tower and heard that, and got "proper" info, i'd be pretty stoked for the kid.

why dont we hire a whole staff of kids and have a few adult supervisors then?

[Graeme S]

Because that suggestion is stupid. Like he said, the calls the kid made were few and far between and were at noncritical points, and could have been easily corrected.

Air traffic control vocab/language is highly complex; it's possible for anyone with radio knowledge and access to the right equipment to access those frequencies. Even if I were on the right frequencies, I (with probably about the same amount of specific knowledge as the kid) would not be able to hugely interfere with aircraft operations as I would be ignored, not having the proper acknowledgements or expressions to guide craft in or out.


What happened is analagous to a train conductor telling the kid to vent steam or a construction worker asking his son to pass nails. Is it part of the routine? Yes. But if he makes a mistake it's only one part of the chain and it's solved quickly and easily.
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[GabAlmighty]

^^There's a guy at the Chilliwack airport who's tuned into the ATF frequency there. He called me a "fucking moron" and has said planes were on final as someone was rolling onto the runways and has just generally caused havoc.. You get in alot of trouble for that
ex. There's a guy in Wisconsin that got six years in prison JUST for swearing, let alone all the times he fucked with aircraft

And it's "technically" illegal because you need a licence to talk on those frequencies and a few other reasons. But mostly just a matter of principle.

As far as kids in the cockpit, yup. I remember going up there when I was 5-6, good times.