WASHINGTON, D.C.—Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV issued the following statement after an incident at Reno-Tahoe International Airport where another air traffic controller fell asleep while a medical flight carrying a patient was attempting to land:

“I just got off the phone with the FAA and told the Administrator that I am sick of this. I have the utmost respect for air traffic controllers, the vast majority of whom work hard and are outstanding professionals. But we can’t have an aviation system where some of the people responsible for safety are literally asleep at the switch. This has to stop. The agency needs to do whatever it takes to keep air traffic controllers from sleeping on the job or not treating their responsibilities with the highest level of seriousness and attention.”

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