WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held an Aviation Operations, Safety and Security Subcommittee hearing today on oversight of air traffic control safety.

Witness List: 

The Honorable J. Randolph “Randy” Babbitt, Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

The Honorable Calvin L. Scovel III, Inspector General, U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General

Mr. Paul Rinaldi, President, National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA)

Dr. Greg Belenky, Director of the Sleep and Performance Research Center, Washington State University

Key Quotations from Today’s Hearing:

“Air traffic controllers have a unique role. They handle runway traffic, police the skies and must have eagle-eye attention. I have enormous respect for air traffic controllers, most of whom work hard and are dedicated, outstanding professionals. We shouldn’t tarnish the whole profession based on the poor judgment of a few. But that’s exactly why we are here today. We can’t allow recent questions about the safety of the FAA to permeate air travel.”

Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.)

“This year, there have been a number of reported incidents involving air traffic controllers sleeping on duty. I am deeply concerned by these incidents. Some are clearly examples of unprofessional behavior on the part of the individual controller. Their actions are totally unacceptable. Unfortunately, some have used those incidents to try to tarnish the reputation of all the dedicated men and women who work every day to ensure that our airspace is the safest in the world.”

Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety and Security 

“Together with NATCA, I have communicated that, even though we do the right thing over 99.9 percent of the time, we have to do better. We cannot have the flying public believe, even for an instant, that they cannot trust the men and women who are responsible for getting them to their destination safely. So I am asking the workforce to rededicate ourselves to the concept of professionalism.”

The Honorable J. Randolph “Randy” Babbitt, Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration

“While FAA’s recent actions to improve Air Traffic Control (ATC) operations are steps in the right direction, sustained oversight and commitment are needed to identify the root causes of ATC incidents and address longstanding concerns. Until FAA takes action to develop comprehensive data (such as accurately capturing all operational errors), conduct astute trend analyses, and develop timely action plans to address controller workforce risks and vulnerabilities, FAA cannot ensure it has a sufficient number of alert, competent, and certified controllers needed to effectively manage the challenges of the next generation of air traffic control.”

The Honorable Calvin L. Scovel III, Inspector General, U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General 

“The physiological and cognitive impacts relate to one’s ability to stay on task as your accuracy and timing degrade, as you experience involuntary micro?sleeps, and as your attention wanes. The impacts to individual performance can be numerous, from a loss of situational awareness, to an increased risk of operational errors, to an overall decline in performance. The cost to productivity can be high in terms of both increased absenteeism and higher operational costs. Finally, the impact of fatigue on safety is clear: since 1993, over 14 accidents resulting in 263 fatalities had fatigue as a causal or contributing factor.”

Mr. Paul Rinaldi, President, National Air Traffic Controllers Association 

“I expect that an effective way to sustain operational performance and well-being in air traffic controllers working the night shift is sanctioned, scheduled, on-shift napping. We could validate this proposed countermeasure by testing the effect of sanctioned, scheduled napping on performance and vigilance in night shift operations in select air traffic control sites. Previous work in air traffic controllers working the night shift has shown that even short, poor quality naps improve alertness and performance.”

Dr. Greg Belenky, Director of the Sleep and Performance Research Center, Washington State University

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